


The Color of Magic

by CartoonJessie



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: AU, Angst, F/M, Gothic, Rumbelle - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-03
Updated: 2016-01-18
Packaged: 2018-03-16 05:24:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 23,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3476081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CartoonJessie/pseuds/CartoonJessie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Due to circumstances, young princess Belle gets to share a prison cell with none other than the Dark One himself. While their captor originally thinks Rumplestiltskin will eat the child, he is surprised to learn that in his imprisonment, the Dark One actually starts to care for her instead.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

“Thank you for coming so soon,” the Queen said gratefully, her hand trembling as she reached out for Rumplestiltskin’s, who pulled up his nose at the gesture.  
“Yes, yes,” he waved her words away, as though the entire idea of being around people in such clear distress was unsettling to him. “You required my assistance, I understood?”  
“Yes,” the King replied, taking his wife’s hand when he noticed the Dark One wasn’t going to shake it. In fact, the Dark One hardly seemed to be paying attention to their words, he was too busy checking out the trophies, trinkets and books that could be seen in the glass cupboards of their study room. “Our daughter… She’s been taken. Kidnapped.”  
Rumplestiltskin didn’t seem phased, after all: children disappeared every day, and King Maurice continued: “She was taken – by a man from another land.”  
This, however, elicited a response from their visitor. The Dark One froze for a moment.  
 _Surely this could not be…_ It had to be a coincidence – perhaps it was nothing more than a strange way of wording on the King’s behalf...   
“We were looking for a tutor for our Belle,” the Queen explained. “We saw many applicants the past weeks, and were impressed by the knowledge of this doctor. Belle seemed to like him, and so we hired him. But the first moment we left them alone, he escaped – with Belle – and we have no idea where they went!”  
Rumplestiltskin turned around to look at the King and Queen, his eyes burning in anger, and this caused the both of them to gulp.  
“What was his name?” he hissed between clenched teeth, not taking his eyes off the royals before him.  
“Doctor Frankenstein,” King Maurice replied quickly, and to Rumplestiltskin it felt like he had been slapped in the face.  
“He left a note,” Queen Cosette continued – her hand trembling as she took the note from the desk and offered it to Rumplestiltskin.  
Sneering, he snapped it from her hand, opening it to read: “ _The Dark One will know where to come to retrieve the princess_.”  
“What does he want though?” the Queen asked softly, noticing the distress on the Dark One’s face. “Gold? Diamonds?”  
“We will give anything we have to have our Belle returned to us,” King Maurice added desperately, but Rumplestiltskin did not look up from the note.  
It had to be some sort of desperate trap, Rumplestiltskin figured. He had refused to cooperate with doctor Frankenstein several months earlier, and now it seemed like the doctor’s tactics to get Rumplestiltskin on his side had become more aggressive.  
“How old is she?” he asked against his own will – but he needed to know – and the answer terrified him.  
“Nine,” the Queen replied softly. “Just turned it, last month.”  
He could not help but think of Baelfire when he had been that age – and imagining his brave boy in the land without color, he felt a shill run down his spine. No doubt that the girl was terrified as well.  
“I will see what I can do,” he heard himself say with a heavy heart – part of him disgusted with himself, but another part knowing that this would have never happened if he wouldn’t have reached out to Frankenstein all those months ago.  
The thanks that were uttered by both the king and queen went completely over his head, and as he whisked away from them to prepare for his rescue mission, he could not help but wonder what Frankenstein had in mind. Did he truly think he could best the Dark One or talk him into submission? Perhaps it was time that he reminded the doctor that their partnership was over – once and for all. 


	2. Monsters in the Night

Travelling from the Enchanted Forest to any other world had never been particularly easy – though the trip to the Land without Color wasn’t as hard to make as one to places such as Agrabah and Wonderland. There were only a handful of objects in existence that made travelling between worlds possible, and since the war on Giants a few hundred years earlier, magical beans were incredibly rare as well.  
But Rumplestiltskin knew how to travel to the Land without Magic without using any magic at all. For both in the Enchanted Forest and in the Land without Color, there stood a Tree of Life, whose roots interlinked in the big cosmological universe, allowing one to travel from one world to the other if one only followed its roots.  
It seemed like an easy way to travel, but both trees were guarded by a massive golem – a creature made of stone and clay, brought to life with magic and possessing a bloodlust that was difficult to find in any other creature in the Enchanted Forest.  
The biggest advantage one could have over such a golem was speed, as well as the knowledge of magic. Those that were able to stun the golem, could easily sneak past it into the tree itself, to travel down its roots. Those that had no such advantages, would be crushed, and their bones would be consumed by the golem itself.  
It certainly explained why the golem had grown to such outrageous proportions, using human bones to fortify itself. The golem was now almost as big as the tree itself, in a part of the Enchanted Forest that everyone knew to avoid. Besides, the handful of people that knew of the Land without Color, weren’t particularly eager to travel there. It was a wretched place, with seemingly no joy, more monsters than people, and with nations that constantly fought one another in horrible wars.  
The thought of such a place was horrible to a grown man – so how would a young princess feel about being in such a dreadful world?  
Upon reaching the Tree of Life, Rumplestiltskin noticed the eerie silence that hung in the area – and upon first sight, it seemed as though the golem was nowhere around. He kept an ear out for any sign of the monster, then stopped in his tracks when he saw the ravage in the area around the tree. Rocks were scattered all around it – black as the night and scorched by fire, some of them so hot still that smoke came of them.  
It took Rumplestiltskin a moment to realize what had happened. The golem had been blown up – leaving the tree open to anyone who wished to travel to the Land without Color – and so it was no longer a mystery how doctor Frankenstein had left the Enchanted Forest with the small princess by his side.  
Checking if his dagger was still tucked away underneath his robe, the Dark One looked for an opening in the tree, then started descending in the earth, a small tunnel of dirt leading to a faint glimmer of light at the end. Rumplestiltskin was careful not to run into any further surprises as the Enchanted Forest and its colors made place for the Land without Color. In the gray of his surroundings, Rumplestiltskin’s red cloak stood out, making him an easy target to the other Golem. But at least he had his dagger on him – the only thing that allowed him to do magic in this land where magic was as rare as color.  
It seemed that in this other land, a similar thing had taken place. There was no Golem, only debris caused by an explosion. Rumplestiltskin had not thought that Frankenstein would go to such lengths to talk to him again, and he was wary – to say the least.  
He whisked to the mountain near Frankenstein’s estate, to overlook it for a moment before he whisked even closer, just outside the gates of his property, and he then whisked onto a tower, opening a window with his magic before he sneaked inside, wondering where Frankenstein had locked up the princess.  
His plan was simple: find the princess, take the princess, leave.  
Once, Frankenstein’s accomplishments had been of great interest to him, but the immoral practices the Doctor called his biggest achievements had even made the stomach of the Dark One turn. Perhaps they were both in the business of creating monsters – but while Rumplestiltskin used manipulation and only watered the seeds of darkness within someone, Frankenstein took pure people and forced darkness and horror upon them against their will. Perhaps he recognized the old Spinner in Frankenstein’s victims, but he knew he did not want to cooperate with the Doctor for a minute longer.  
Sneaking through the long and eerie hallways, he could hear the rain as it ticked against the windows and the sound of the wind howling in the mountains – or perhaps it wasn’t wind at all…  
He froze when he heard footsteps – uneven and without rhythm – closing in on him, and he hid behind a curtain, keeping completely still as Frankenstein’s monster walked past – though ‘walking’ was probably the wrong term.  
Gerhardt’s breathing was uneven and as he dragged one leg behind him, jerking his arms awkwardly to move forward, Rumplestiltskin noticed the brand-new scar on Gerhardt’s face – as though half his skin had been taken off and sewed back on to an uneven skull. There were even two screws attached to his head now – one to the side of his head, the other to the side of his neck while puss still oozed out of it. It looked horrible, and Rumplestiltskin felt his stomach turn at the sight.  
Last time he had seen Gerhardt, the man had been a monster – but not as bad as this one. He had only gotten worse. No wonder that Frankenstein was desperate enough to call for his help.  
Breathing heavily, Gerhardt moved through the corridor, sometimes sounding as though he was choking. Something as simple as drawing breath sounded incredibly painful to him, but he kept on going until Rumplestiltskin could hear him no more.  
Deciding to keep looking until he had found the princess, Rumplestiltskin eventually found himself heading down into the basement, feeling a little suspicious about the silence in the massive mansion. Victor and his assistant Igor had to be around somewhere, but where?  
He turned his head when he suddenly heard some soft sobbing, the sound echoing through the hallways, but Rumplestiltskin figured that it could only come from the princess. He picked up his pace as he headed towards the sound, eventually ending up in a corridor that was lit by a single flickering lamp. It made a buzzing sound as it went on and off every few seconds, and Rumplestiltskin looked at it with narrowed eyes.  
He wasn’t very fond of electricity – the idea behind it rather difficult for him to grasp – and when he noticed a door that stood ajar, he checked one more time if his dagger was secure underneath his robes before he took a deep breath and pushed the door open, seeing that he was in a massive cellar – big enough to store hundreds of barrels of wine – with gray pillars supporting the floor above it and iron bars that separated one side of the room from the rest.  
The crying seemed to have stopped, but as he heard a soft sniff, he headed towards the large cell, his footsteps not going unnoticed to the young prisoner, who immediately got up to get a better look, and she froze when she saw Rumplestiltskin – the first being of color she had seen since she had been locked away.  
Rumplestiltskin stared at the small girl as well, finding it an odd sight to see someone as full of color as she was in this bleak room. She wore a beautiful light-blue dress, and despite her very small size, she looked regal already, her chin lifted as she looked into his eyes, her bottom lip trembling a little.  
“You must go,” she suddenly said, hurrying closer to the iron bars that kept her locked in. “Leave! Now!”  
Rumplestiltskin did not understand the young girl’s words and looked around the big cellar with a suspicious look on his face. What was she warning him for precisely?  
“Hurry,” the girl urged him, her voice trembling as she started crying. “It’s a trap!”  
But Rumplestiltskin figured that this girl simply did not know him well enough. He was not afraid of Gerhardt, Victor, Igor or any of their weapons. It was true that their crossbows and guns were very impressive, but nothing without magic would be able to defeat the Dark One – he was sure of that – and so he took a few steps closer to the princess in her cell, only to hear her cry out that he had to go – but the warning came in vain.  
As he picked up a slight sizzling sound first, it grew in intensity in just a mere second, the floor suddenly overflowing with lightning – and Rumplestiltskin felt its power surge through his body the moment it reached his feet. But this energy that coursed through him was not adding to his own power – quite the opposite – it was lightning draining him of his magic as it tried to fight against the pain and trauma.  
He could smell the fire and feel the heat scorch him from the inside out and a few seconds later he was crying and screaming like he had never done before. The pain soon became unbearable – even to the Dark One – and through the horror and the trauma his thoughts still went out to the princess – and as he looked at her and saw her scream, crying for it to stop – he realized that she was still alright.  
He needed to get away, bring himself to safety – he should whisk away – but his body was losing the fight, and as he closed his eyes, his body hit the cold stone floor with a loud thud.  
The sound of electricity sizzling through him would be one he would hear for a long, long time to come.


	3. Two Prisoners

The young princess could only watch in horror how the electric circuit in the floor was activated and lightning surged to the spot where the Dark One stood. Watching him cry and scream was horrifying, and she could see how the electricity burned him while his magic tried to heal each and every wound at the same time.  
Slowly but surely his scaly golden skin turned gray, and even his cloak lost its red color until there was hardly any color left. She wasn’t even aware that she was screaming for it to stop – all she heard was the sizzling of the electricity and the crackling of the thunder it created in front of her.  
Only when it seemed that he had lost all color, did the power turn off, and Belle stared in silence at the lifeless body of the wizard who had come to save her. Her mind felt heavy as she realized that even a powerful wizard was unable to save her. Was she ever going to see her parents again? She could only stand there in stunned silence.  
When Victor Frankenstein and Igor entered the room, she hardly registered it.  
They wore rubber gloves as they went through their knees and rolled over the Dark One. Igor unbuttoned the massive cloak and Victor cried triumphantly as he noticed the dagger. He took it from underneath the Dark One’s belt as quickly as he could and rose to his feet again.  
“Did I not tell you, Igor!” he said in a relieved tone. “I told you he would not come to this world without it. And now, the magic of the Dark One is ours!”  
“Unless we killed him,” Igor remarked dryly, trying to spy any signs of life as he took Rumplestiltskin’s chin between his fingers and turned his head to inspect him better. “Looks dead to me.”  
As Belle quietly stood there and listened, tears streamed down her face. She had never seen a dead man before, and the thought that the man had given his life to save her was horrible to her. She wanted to be in the loving arms of her parents once more, not in this nightmare of a world, watching people die from a cold prison cell.  
As Victor took a firmer hold of the dagger, he held it between himself and Rumplestiltskin, commanding him: “Rise, Rumplestiltskin.”  
For a moment, nothing seemed to happen, and Igor shot Victor a look that said: “I told you so…”  
“Rise!” Victor repeated in frustration, afraid that he had underestimated the power of electricity against the Dark One’s magic. “Perhaps that’s too difficult right now,” he muttered, and he continued: “Dark One, open your eyes!”  
As Rumplestiltskin’s eyes flew open, Victor smirked in relief.  
“See, it worked!” he pointed out to Igor, who got up as well and looked down at Rumplestiltskin as he had his eyes open, staring blankly at the ceiling.  
“Do you think he’s very conscious of what’s going on around here?” Igor wondered.  
Looking into Rumplestiltskin’s eyes, Victor shook his head. “Doesn’t seem like it. Help me move him to the cell.”  
As Igor opened the barred door to the cell, Belle stepped back a few times, as far away from Victor and Igor as she could. They ignored her as they dragged Rumplestiltskin inside by his boots.   
“He hardly weighs anything,” Igor remarked.   
“I’m not surprised,” Victor said wisely. “We just drained him of all magic.”  
Belle raised an eyebrow. As young as she was, she felt like she had a better idea of how magic worked. After all, her mother had read to her about magic since she had been three years old.  
“Magic doesn’t _weigh_ anything,” she said in a tone that demanded respect – even for a nine-year-old. “Or else fairies would weigh so much they would not be able to fly. They are some of the most powerful magical creatures in the Enchanted Forest.”  
As Victor turned to look at the little princess, he seemed amused by her interruption.   
“And thus the tutor becomes the pupil,” he said in good humor, but Belle was not laughing.   
“You are not a tutor,” she said bitterly. “You are a liar.”  
Though he was not proud of that bit, he did not seem particularly attacked by it either. “I am a man of science, princess. I can’t always let morality stand in the way of my decisions. I wanted to control the Dark One’s magic, and now I do. Thanks to you for being the perfect bait.”  
Belle frowned, thinking about what that meant. “Can I go then?” she asked, the hope in her tone very prudent. “Can I go back home, now that you have what you wanted?”  
“Afraid not,” Victor replied gravely. “You can never return, princess. The less people know about the Land without Color, as you would call it, the better. Besides, the Dark One is rumored to have an appetite for children. He has been dealing for them for hundreds of years, from what I’ve heard. If he requires a child’s blood to reach his full potential, it would be a horrible waste to let you go. We must wait and see how he chooses to regain his strength. It will be an interesting experiment.”  
Belle listened in horror to the man’s words, and she soon began to fear that she would be eaten by the wizard who was now still unconscious on the floor.   
Raising the dagger once more, Victor spoke to him: “Dark One, I command you to stay in this cell until I say differently. You shall not harm myself, Igor or Gerhardt. The girl is at your disposal and I wish for you to make a quick and full recovery as soon as you are able to. You are a prisoner now. Please close your eyes if you have understood these commands.”  
As Rumplestiltskin’s eyes closed once more, Victor seemed very pleased with himself.   
“Wonderful,” he remarked calmly. “Come, Igor, for it is late and I intend to get some sleep now. I do not believe we have anything to fear from Rumplestiltskin anymore.”   
As Victor and Igor left the cell, Belle ran to the door, grasping Igor’s hand as he tried to turn the key in the lock.  
“Please!” she suddenly cried. “Don’t leave me in here! I don’t want to be eaten!”  
The panic and terror in her voice did not phase Victor Frankenstein, but Igor did look shocked for a small moment, the princess’s plea sending a shiver down his spine. Watching her colored hand on his gray one, he gulped.   
“He might not,” he said softly, in a weak attempt to comfort her, before he quickly turned the key in the lock and pulled away from her grasp.   
As Belle cried out in terror, Igor hoped that her crying would not come back to haunt him in his nightmares.


	4. Someone to watch over me

Belle cried her eyes out, begging her captors to let her go, but they were long gone by the time she stopped screaming for their help. Her throat was sore as she let her head rest against the metal bars, white-hot tears still on her cheeks.  
Remembering the man they had left in the cell with her, Belle turned around to look at him, his once colorful figure now as gray as the rest of the room. He was still unconscious and that meant that she would live a little while longer.   
Would he really eat her?  
Belle was terrified, but she tried to be brave, like her mother had always told her to be. Her mother would tell her to stop feeling in such a situation and to think logically. It was how her mother had been able to teach her to stop fearing spiders and lightning - yet from what she had just seen before her eyes, she feared that her fear of lightning had returned once more.  
"If you really eat children," Belle said softly, taking a few steps closer to the unconscious man. "Then you are a carnivore. That means you would have things in common with predators - like sharp claws..."  
She knelt down and crawled closer to him, keeping an eye on his expression - but he seemed fast asleep. Taking his heavy hand in her small one, she lifted it to inspect his nails. Though they were black, they did not seem to be very sharp.   
Knowing that looks could be deceiving, the small princess touched each of his nails, lifting his other hand when she was done with the first, and she let the tip of her finger slide along the edge of each of his nails, but they weren't long or sharp at all and did not hurt her in any way.   
It was quite a relief to Belle to figure that out and she moved towards his face, brushing his hair to the side to inspect his ears. They looked very human to Belle, which meant that he probably did not have some super-hearing like many animals did. Another sign that he wasn't a predator.  
Looking at his mouth, Belle wondered if his teeth were sharp, and she carefully brought her fingers to his lips, clumsily trying to pull them apart so she could see if he had any canines or not.   
"Ew..." she muttered as she noticed the darker spots on his teeth, and as she figured that his teeth didn't look any sharper than hers, she brought her finger into his mouth to feel them.  
When Rumplestiltskin suddenly grunted, her heart skipped a beat and she jumped up as quickly as she could, hiding behind one of the many pillars in the cellar. She kept as quiet as she could be, fearing that he was awake and hungry, but after several minutes of waiting and not hearing anything, she carefully crawled away from the pillar again, heading towards him on her hands and knees.   
She narrowed her eyes as she looked at him. Was he sleeping - or just pretending?  
"Sir?" she asked softly, and when no response came, she shook him by the shoulders. "Sir?"  
Another grunt, but this time Belle did not cower away. He was weak. Perhaps she could prevent being eaten if she managed to befriend him before he had gained his full strength.  
Slowly he opened his eyes, his gaze weak as his eyes sought out Belle's. She bit her lip as she noticed that his eyes weren't colorless at all. They were brown and gold and yellow - and unlike any eyes Belle had ever seen. For a few moments, they merely looked at each other, until Rumplestiltskin winced and Belle startled - afraid that any movement of his meant he was going to eat her.   
Noticing how she crawled back the moment he moved, he looked at her and tried to support himself so he could sit up, but his arms would not support him - they felt weaker than they ever had - and he fell back down after a second, tears of frustration and pain in his eyes.   
Belle witnessed this, but the fact that he was trying to move was startling to her and she did not dare approach him again.  
As he tried to turn his head to look at her, he only saw how she hid further away the moment his eyes found hers, and it didn't take her long to move from his sight completely.   
He wasn't blind. He could see that she was terrified of him. Who wouldn't be?   
But still, it felt like another hurt for him to carry, and he moaned as he tried to force himself up again, falling down even harder than before, whimpering in agony.   
Belle remained hidden behind one of the many pillars, but she did try to keep an eye on him, just making sure he could not see her and staying behind him. She noticed how he struggled to get up, time and time again, and she thought he sounded rather pathetic whenever he fell back down. He was crying and whimpering and he didn't sound dangerous at all, just weak and fragile and sad.  
Belle's heart was not made of stone, far from it. And though part of her was still afraid, another part remembered the stories her mother had told her about people that had befriended wounded animals, and how they had become lifelong friends then, loyal and kind, and not dangerous at all. Perhaps if she befriended him, she would not need to worry about him hurting her.   
As Rumplestiltskin tried to sit up for the dozenth time, he thought he felt some of his old powers returning, but they were gone too soon, and he fell back down, expecting to hit the cold stone floor again - but instead, he felt something soft instead, and when he looked up, he saw the little girl as she stared into his eyes.   
"Are you alright?" she asked softly, her legs supporting his head now, and he was speechless for a moment.   
For whatever reason, her fear had disappeared. She now bravely stroked some stray hairs from his face as he looked at her.   
He could not reply in an affirmative way - for he was far from alright.  
"Not really," he replied in a raspy tone, his throat aching.  
She wondered for a moment if she was imagining it, but it seemed like color was returning to his face. His lips were starting to look pinkish again; and his skin color seemed to be returning to normal too.   
"You're getting better," she told him softly. "Your color is returning to you."  
For a moment he thought it was nothing more than an expression, but then he considered the fact that it was magic that held color in this land - and he raised one of his hands to look at it - gulping when he realized his color was gone.   
He felt anger boil inside of him, promising to himself that he would make Victor pay for this.  
But thoughts of revenge and murder were disturbed when he suddenly felt the little princess stroke through his hair in an attempt to comfort him. As much as he hated to admit it - it was working.   
"Sleep," she said softly. "I'll watch over you."  
He was exhausted, and her gentle touch did ease his mind – if only a little bit. When he closed his eyes again, it did not take him long to fall asleep, and Belle felt a beam of pride inside of her, sitting a little straighter as she realized that she was now befriending a dangerous monster – and soon they would be inseparable.

When Rumplestiltskin woke, many hours had passed, and he would not have awoken if he had not felt some hair in his face that he could not brush aside. It took him a moment to realize that the hair wasn’t his, but Belle’s, and as he opened his eyes and looked up, he saw that she had fallen asleep – in a very uncomfortable position.   
Her chin rested on her chest, her loose hair all over Rumplestiltskin’s face, and she breathed softly, but steadily – her sleep so deep that Rumplestiltskin did not dare to wake her from it.   
To his surprise, he saw that nearly all color had returned to him now, and he was feeling how his powers had returned to him as well. Sitting up, he took a moment to take in his miserable surroundings.   
There seemed to be nothing in their massive cell besides a dozen pillars and a porcelain chamber pot. Just the idea that they had given this girl a chamber pot, but had not bothered to get her a blanket or anything else to hold onto made him hate his captors even more.   
Seeing how she was about to fall to her side now that he was no longer resting with his head on her legs, he quickly scooped her up in his arms.   
Though he no longer owned the dagger, he still had some leniency in how to use his magic, as long as he obeyed his master’s commands, and he whisked his cloak around Belle, wrapping her up nice and warm as he sat down with his back against a pillar. Belle whimpered a little as she had noticed all the movement, but she didn’t wake quite yet.  
“Hush, hush, little princess,” he said softly, cradling her in his arms, making sure that she would not be cold or feel like no one cared about her in this world. “I will watch over you now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had several people ask me (through comments or messages on Tumblr) if I'm going to make Rumplestiltskin a pedophile.   
> It's a rather disturbing question and idea, and I was shocked to get the question at all, but I got it so often I could not ignore it.  
> The answer is: no. Making Rumplestiltskin a pedophile would be very out-of-character. He's good with kids - he has a soft spot for them.   
> But he's not a pervert. It is possible to love and care for a child without being its parent or a pedophile.  
> If you're wondering how that will leave room for any actual 'sexy' Rumbelle, then rest assured that this story will span a great deal of time in the Land without Color and the Enchanted Forest. All I can say is: trust me. I know what I'm doing.  
> Thank you for your interest in the story, and I hope you will continue to like what you read.


	5. First morning

Even before she woke up, Rumplestiltskin could hear her stomach growl. He wondered when the princess had last eaten anything. He had no doubt that Victor and Igor had not thought of feeding the prisoner – and he wondered if they ever would.  
Looking at the princess, he stroked a few hairs from her pretty little face. He could remember when Baelfire had been that age, back when he had been a spinner, and just like then he once more felt very protective of the child in his arms. He smiled gently as she yawned and then stretched a little, but when she slowly opened her eyes, he feared for a moment that his appearance and closeness would startle her.   
Instead, she looked at him through tired eyes, rubbing them as she smiled gently.  
“Your color is back,” she noticed happily, speaking rather slowly while she was still waking up.   
“Feeling as good as new,” he tried to assure her – even if he was still upset about losing ownership of the dagger. “I slept rather alright. And you?”  
It was a little stunning how she remained still in his arms, perfectly comfortable to be held like that. “Me too,” she said. “Your cloak is very warm and soft.”  
She stroked her cheek against the fabric of the cloak, smiling once more.   
For a child that seemed to be imprisoned for life, she certainly was being pleasant and happy. He could not really make sense of it, but he was glad for it none the less.  
“Are you hungry, princess?” he asked carefully, and as she nodded with a hopeful look on her face, he smiled. Opening his hand in front of her, she stared at his empty palm for a moment before he whisked a big piece of cake into his hand, and her eyes turned the size of saucers as she looked at it.   
“Mama never let me ate cake for breakfast!” she admitted with a naughty smile on her face and Rumplestiltskin winked at her.  
“Mama’s not here right now.”  
Belle bit her lip, smiling at him, until she gave in and quickly grabbed a hold of the cake, taking a few eager bites, only now realizing how starved she had been.   
Rumplestiltskin watched her eat with a pleased smile on his face, and as Belle noticed how he was looking at her, she stopped, her gaze suddenly filled with dread and fear, and feeling how she stiffened in his arms, Rumplestiltskin wondered what it was that had made her mood change so suddenly.   
“Is anything wrong, princess?”  
She gave him back the remainder of the cake and slowly said: “You… you’re not feeding me cake so that I get very fat and you can eat me then, are you?”  
The serious tone in which she said this caused his eyebrows to rise in surprise, and he could not hide his smile, finding the thought hilarious.   
“No,” he replied, trying not to laugh. “No, I don’t eat children.”  
“But doctor Frankenstein said that…”  
“He doesn’t know me,” he interrupted her in an assuring voice, losing the smile so she could see he was not joking. “He thinks I eat babies – many people think that – but those are all lies. I don’t eat babies or children or other humans. I much prefer cake, in fact.”   
To prove this, he took a huge bite of the cake in his hand, and this caused Belle to giggle softly.   
With his mouth still half-full of cake, he asked: “Do you bewieve me now, pwincess?”   
She laughed and nodded, carefully breaking a bit of cake off before she put it in her mouth as well, replying with her mouth full: “Yesh I do!”  
Rumplestiltskin chuckled, very amused by the small princess. They both ate the cake until it was completely gone, and he asked: “Are you still hungry, princess?” but she shook her head. “Would you like something to drink instead?” he continued, and when he saw how she nodded eagerly to that, he whisked a big mug of milk into his hand. She took it and smelled it first – an odd little habit – but then gulped it all down in one big go. When she returned the mug to his hand, he noticed the little moustache of milk on her lip, and he chuckled as he wiped it away with his thumb.   
She seemed a little confused by the gesture, but she did not move away from his touch and looked at him with a questioning gaze.   
“Princesses should not have moustaches,” he explained with a wink. “Least of all moustaches made of milk. You should have a proper hairy one,” he jested. “One you can twirl and curl between your fingertips!”  
Belle giggled, and he could swear that the sound of her laughter healed his injured soul.  
By falling prey to Frankenstein, he had proven once more how he was an incompetent fool – an idiot. But the princess’s smile lessened the hurt he felt inside. His bruised ego needed her kindness and her laughter to heal, and her closeness warmed his own cold heart. He had not felt as close to anyone since he had lost Bae, and it was like he had never stopped being a father. The child might as well have been his all along – that was how strong he felt the bond between them. He could not explain it with logic at all.   
“I need to pee,” she suddenly said, and Rumplestiltskin looked in surprise as she suddenly got up from his lap and tried to get out of the cloak he had so firmly wrapped around her during the night. She gave it back to him with a grateful bow, then told him: “You must turn around and cover your ears.”  
There was no question in what she was saying, but he did not mind the strict demand at all – not in this case.   
He got up from the floor and turned around like she had told him to, covering his ears as well.   
“Can you hear me now?” she asked as she saw he was doing what she had asked him to.   
“Yes,” he replied honestly, and he grinned as he heard her sigh in annoyance.   
“Press harder against your ears then,” she urged him. “Can you hear me now?”  
Obeying her, he could still hear every word she said, but as he replied “No”, she seemed to be happy with the answer and quickly went to the chamber pot to pee.   
When she was done a minute later, she tapped his back, and he turned around in mock surprise.   
“Done so soon already?!” he asked, and as she smiled proudly, he smiled back.  
He considered asking her if she wanted to play any games, after all, they would need some way to pass the time here, but she beat him to speaking first.   
“You should not worry about being stuck here,” she said bravely. “I know they stole your dagger, but we will get it back. Mama and papa will send someone else to come and save me – and they will save you too then. Perhaps they’ll even send their entire army!”  
He could see how the hope radiated from her entire being – her tone, her eyes, her posture – and he did not dare betray how wrong she was.   
Her parents didn’t even know _where_ she was. No one knew. No one had understood the message besides him – and he had kept his mission a secret.   
In hindsight, that had been a horrible thing to do.  
But how could he tell her that no one was coming for them? How could he take away the hope in the heart of his little ray of sunshine?  
He opened his mouth to say something about it, but the only words that came out were: “Great! Shall we play a game then?”  
As she started to tell him how their dungeon was big enough to play tag, he felt his heart sink to his stomach. But he simply could not tell her the truth.  
Once a coward, always a coward.


	6. Science and Magic

Though it was Victor who had his dagger, it was Belle whose commands he followed that morning. He played every game she suggested to him, and when she got tired from running and playing hide and seek, she sat down in his lap and asked him to tell her a story, like it was the most normal thing in the world.   
He had to think for a moment, no longer very familiar with stories to tell to children – or to telling stories at all – but after a bit of thinking, he asked her: “Do you know the story of the three billy goats gruff? With the bridge on which a horrible troll lives?”  
As she shook her head, her eyes eagerly fixed on his, he began his tale: “There were three goats that lived on one side of a bridge, but they were hungry because there was no more grass on their land. The bridge they needed to cross to get to the meadow was guarded by a horrible troll, and he was always hungry and ate anyone who wanted to cross the…”   
Rumplestiltskin suddenly stopped as he heard something in the hallway, and he knew that it was Victor approaching them – for he could feel the magic of the dagger as it drew closer.   
As he got up, he pulled Belle up to her own two feet as well, and the moment the door opened, she hid behind his massive cloak, as though Rumplestiltskin was the shield between herself and her captors.  
When Victor saw Rumplestiltskin standing there, back to his full strength, it did not seem to provoke any emotional response from the doctor. Igor seemed to be more anxious, looking around nervously before he let out a relieved sigh when he saw that Belle was still alive and that Rumplestiltskin had not eaten her.   
“I see your color has returned to you,” Victor remarked as he headed closer to the iron bars. “That is good. I am glad it went so quickly. Please join me to my office. We have business to discuss.”  
Igor opened the lock of their cell, but Rumplestiltskin did not move immediately, aware that Belle was still holding onto his robes, afraid to be left alone.  
“And the princess?” Rumplestiltskin dared to ask. “Will she be confined to this cell in the meanwhile?”  
Victor looked at Belle through narrowed eyes, and the girl hid behind Rumplestiltskin completely now, afraid to show her face.   
“For now, she will remain here,” Victor replied coldly. “You will return to her when we are done.”   
Rumplestiltskin turned a little so he could look at Belle.  
“Did you hear that?” he asked softly, and as she looked up at him and nodded, he put his hand on her head for a small moment. “I will be back soon enough. Don’t worry about me.”  
She nodded bravely – even if she was terrified – and Rumplestiltskin soon followed Victor and Igor through the corridors, up to the first floor, where Victor’s office was.   
It was a bleak place with dark furniture, and the absence of color did not make it any more interesting.  
“Sit,” Victor said as he motioned towards one of the chairs in front of his desk – and since Victor was holding onto the dagger, Rumplestiltskin had to obey.   
Igor was sent away to get them something to drink, and doctor Frankenstein sat down as well, glaring at Rumplestiltskin from behind his desk.   
“You did not return my calls,” he started, folding his arms over one another, still holding the dagger in one of his hands. “You can see how that left me no choice.”   
“You could have just let it go,” Rumplestiltskin responded without missing a beat. “Reviving your brother was a mistake – but that does not mean that you have to move heaven and earth to fix it now. You should have shown him mercy and killed him.”  
As the two men glared at one another, an uncomfortable silence hung between them, which Victor was first to break: “Gerhardt is alive and he is also a sentient being – and as a brother and a doctor, I cannot kill him.”   
“Would you like me to do it then?” Rumplestiltskin offered happily, knowing that the proposal itself would anger Frankenstein.   
“No!” he replied furiously, holding the dagger between them as he said: “You will not harm Gerhardt – _ever_!”   
Rumplestiltskin shrugged and pretended like the order was no big deal. It wasn’t. Rumplestiltskin had no desire to harm the pathetic monster that limped around these halls – but Victor did not need to know that.   
“Strange how Gerhardt’s life means so much to you – even while it seems he will only know pain and frustration in the years that are to come – while you so eagerly left a young princess in my care – one that you knew I could have killed and eaten – not necessarily in that order.”  
Victor narrowed his eyes even further. He hated it to be called out on his decisions – especially those for which he had ignored his conscience.  
“It was an experiment,” Victor mumbled. “I needed to know your true nature.”   
“One that could have cost the life of a very young, beautiful and innocent girl,” Rumplestiltskin retorted sharply, ramming an imaginary sword in Victor’s conscience. “How could you have lived with yourself if I would have torn her to shreds while you could have prevented that?”  
Victor averted his eyes, his hands trembling as he nervously played with the dagger.  
When Igor entered with a few drinks and put the tray down on the desk, Victor immediately reached for the bottle of whiskey and poured himself a glass, drinking more than half of it in one go.   
Igor beheld that behavior with somewhat of a regretful look, but did not remark on it, and as he turned to Rumplestiltskin, he politely asked: “Tea?”  
“Perhaps you should not ask the wizard who can’t die that question, but the little girl you two are hiding in your dungeon.”  
“It’s a cellar,” Victor said weakly, but he kept quiet when he saw Rumplestiltskin’s angry gaze, once more drinking from the glass of whiskey in order to quiet his guilty conscience.  
“There is no reason to keep her here,” Rumplestiltskin insisted. “You have my dagger and full control over me. If you order me to bring her back to her family and then return here, I will do just that.”  
“You can’t do that,” Victor said quickly. “She can’t go back and tell anyone of this world – especially now that the golems are dead.”  
“Yes!” Rumplestiltskin cried out. “What on earth gave you the notion that _that_ was a good idea? Once people figure that out – and they _will_ figure it out – I can’t even imagine the consequences!”  
“I just needed to get to you,” Victor urged with emotion in his tone, his hands still trembling. “Gerhardt needs you! I can’t fix my brother by myself! I wish I could say that science brought him back – but it was more than science! It was science _and_ magic, and if we want to make him better, then we will need both!”   
Rumplestiltskin kept quiet for a few moments, realizing that there wasn’t even a bigger scheme in it for Victor Frankenstein. All he wanted, was his old brother back.   
He knew all too well what it was like to wish for things to return to the way they were, but he had learned to let go. It had been a hard lesson – and he was still paying the price for it.   
“Victor,” he said in a somewhat gentler tone, not trying to appeal to his conscience, but to the doctor’s reason. “We come from two separate worlds. One of magic and one of science. We mixed them both and now we created a monster. If anything, this shows that we should not be messing with these things. It is a testament to how horrible it was to ever work together in the first place. I know that I was supportive of this in the past, but that was before Gerhardt was brought back to life. I saw him, Victor… Yesterday, limping through the corridor, completely lost and miserable… He is not happier and I do not believe we are doing him any favors by keeping him alive.”   
Rumplestiltskin had expected a response from Victor, but what he had not expected were the pathetic sobs that suddenly escaped from the doctor’s mouth, and the way he started sniffing in order to keep his tears in. The Dark One was a little alarmed, to say the least, and he looked at Igor for an explanation.   
Though Igor was no more than an assistant, he felt comfortable enough to speak up about the situation, and he explained: “Gerhardt tried to throw himself off the tower last month. Well – he actually _did_ throw himself off the tower.”  
Rumplestiltskin could hardly believe what he was hearing.   
“He injured himself a great deal further – but it was not lethal – at all. We managed to fix him up and he’s still walking around as we speak.” Igor did seem regretful about all of it, but it still did not make much sense to Rumplestiltskin.   
“It’s like he can’t die,” Victor sobbed, unable to look at Rumplestiltskin as he thought back on what had happened. “If he can’t die, then… then we must try to make him better… To give him a life that is worth living…”  
Rumplestiltskin had a pretty good idea now why he had seen the screws in Gerhardt’s head, but he did not care for Gerhardt as much as he did for someone else in this mansion, and he quickly steered the direction away from Frankenstein’s monster, and into the direction of his little princess.   
“You could also just try and give the princess you kidnapped a life that is worth living,” Rumplestiltskin said in a judging tone. “I am willing to help you with Gerhardt’s predicament, but not at the cost of the life of this young girl.”  
As though that inspired Victor, he suddenly dried his tears and even smiled – genuinely – while he looked at Rumplestiltskin. “In that case, we can make a deal. If you help my brother – if we can restore his life back to a decent one – one that is worth living – then I will consider letting the princess go home.”  
Rumplestiltskin frowned. It wasn’t what he had wanted to hear. He had given up hope on Gerhardt a long time ago. He still did not believe that Gerhardt’s life could ever be returned to a normal one. How could a man who had been dead pick up the pieces where he had left off? Not to mention that the young man’s body was broken in several ways. He had no idea how they could ever pull it off.  
On the other hand, he was in no position to make any bargains. He could consider himself lucky that Victor still seemed to approach him like an accomplice – and not as much as a slave.   
“Agreed,” he said in a cautious tone. “But in the meanwhile, I would like you to vouch for her safety as well. She needs to be taken care of. I can provide food for her – or any items she may need – but a girl her age should not be locked up in a dungeon.”  
“Cellar,” Victor corrected him once more, and Rumplestiltskin rolled his eyes.   
“Point is – this is between you and me. She should not be the one doing all the suffering while she is here.”  
Rumplestiltskin was a little surprised to see Igor nod in agreement with him, and Victor eventually gave a short nod as well.   
“You may provide for her with your magic,” he acknowledged. “Like yourself, she can never be seen outside these walls – for it would be an unsettling sight for those beholding her with all her colors. However, I will consider letting her out of the cellar every now and then, to get some physical exercise. I will let you know my decision in this once I make it.”  
Victor drank the last of the whiskey in his glass, his nerves seemingly soothed again.   
“Now,” he continued as he got up from his seat. “Shall we head to our patient?”


	7. Settling in

As Rumplestiltskin walked back to the cell, he thought of everything he had seen and heard that day. Gerhardt had been tied to an operating table while Victor had shown Rumplestiltskin everything he had missed in his months of absence. There were now even more incisions and scars than before on Gerhardt’s horrific body, and only when the innocent monster had started crying and tried to break free, had Victor let him go.  
Victor’s brother was unable to speak properly, but he did make pathetic sounds every now and then, attempts at words he seemed to have forgotten, but desperately wanted to express.   
It was all very unsettling to see, and Rumplestiltskin was glad for the few moments of solitude before he was to join Belle in their cell again. It seemed to him that the Land without Color was much crueler than the Enchanted Forest and he just needed to catch his breath before he faced his protegee.   
When he entered the cellar and saw Belle’s head peak out from behind a pillar, he smiled softly, and she ran towards the barred door – nothing but excitement on her face.   
“Are they gone?” she asked eagerly. “Did you defeat them?”  
For a moment, he did not understand her, until he realized what it had looked like to her.   
“No,” he said softly, and he whisked himself inside the cell, kneeling down by her side as she looked at him in confusion. “I need to explain some things to you…” He took a hold of her two hands and wondered where to start. “Do you remember the dagger that they stole from me?”   
Watching her nod, he continued: “That dagger is a magical dagger. Whoever holds it, can give me orders, and I must listen to them. Right now, doctor Frankenstein has the dagger, so I must do everything he tells me.”  
Belle had a frown on her face as she listened, and she suddenly asked: “So if he asks you to eat me, you must do that too?”  
Seeing the fear in her eyes, he wished he could say he wouldn’t – but the truth was that if that order was given, he would need to carry it out.   
“He won’t ask that,” Rumplestiltskin replied – even if there was no way of ever being sure of that. “In fact, he has asked me to take care of you!”  
It wasn’t a complete lie, and as he got up, he looked around the cellar – to see what he would be able to do with it to make it more of a home to his little princess.   
“I can use my magic to make sure you are alright. But if doctor Frankenstein needs me, I will need to leave you on your own again. So let’s make sure you have a nice place to stay in, right?”   
Belle shrugged, her small form looking so terribly out of place in this world. The light blue color of her dress in combination with the massive size of the skirt made her look like something out of a fairy tale, while everything else in their environment was dark and cold. But what Rumplestiltskin did not fully understand, was that she wasn't happier that he was going to make sure she had it well here.   
“Mama and papa are probably on their way already,” she said softly – a bit of a stubborn frown on her face. “They might be here very soon.”  
Rumplestiltskin felt the ache in his heart as she spoke those words. Once more his conscience was nagging at him to tell her the truth – but would that really be the best thing to do? She was strong and brave right now. Perhaps it was best to let her believe in her parents for as long as she could.   
“Well, it’s almost bedtime for girls your age,” he said in a warm tone. “But bedtime without a bed is a bit silly, so…” He whirled his hand through the air and as Belle followed the movement with her eyes, she suddenly saw how a big four-poster bed had appeared at the far end of their cellar, in the corner against the wall. It was made of dark brown wood and it had red curtains around it, and Rumplestiltskin turned to Belle with a questioning gaze. “What is your favorite color?”  
“Blue,” the princess replied immediately. “But I also really like yellow.”  
Another flick of his wrist and the curtains were blue, with small yellow patterns in them, and Belle ran towards the bed, opening the curtains to check inside. There were a dozen pillows in the bed, as well as luxurious and warm blue blankets, feeling softer than any blanket Belle had ever had at home.   
Her indifference of before disappeared, and she smiled as she touched the blanket, the softness comforting her already.  
“Now, before you go to bed, I must ask you if you are hungry,” Rumplestiltskin asked, to which Belle nodded very quickly.   
“I’m starving,” she admitted.  
Without further waiting, Rumplestiltskin whisked a dining table with two chairs to the opposite corner of their cellar, close to the iron bars that kept them locked in. With another twirl of his fingers, two bowls of vegetable soup appeared on the table, and Rumplestiltskin joined the princess as they ate – even if he did not necessarily need any sustenance.   
He knew, however, that children hated eating on their own. Not only had he learned this from Baelfire, he also had vivid memories of eating all alone when he had been a child – and those weren’t pleasant memories at all.   
Belle finished the soup before he did, as if to show him how starved she had been, and after the soup he gave her some stew with bread, which she also finished without a problem. She did not ask for a dessert, but he made sure to leave a big bowl of fruit on the table as he encouraged her to head to bed, just to make sure she would not get too hungry if he had to leave earlier in the morning.   
He summoned her a yellow nightgown and offered it to her, then helped her undo the laces of her royal dress. Whoever had laced her in back in the Enchanted Forest, had done it so tightly that Rumplestiltskin wondered how she could still be comfortable in such a dress. She never could have gotten out of it on her own, that was for sure, and he left her a few moments of privacy as she changed into her nightgown and washed up by the small table with the bowl of water on top that he had summoned for her.   
“Will you tell me the story now?” he heard her ask as she crawled into bed. “The one about the three goats and the troll?”  
He made his way over to the bed, noticing how her hair was unkempt and messy as she lay down, eagerly awaiting his story, and as he summoned a hairbrush in his hand, Belle sat up and turned her back to him, allowing him to brush her hair while he told her the story.   
He knew she was listening to each and every word he said, and how she was amused by the silly voices he made when he imitated the troll, but he found it soothing as well to just spend time with her and comb her hair. It was relaxing – almost like spinning – and he kept combing far longer than was necessary, until the story was completely finished.   
Belle had really enjoyed it and lay down in the bed again, looking at him.   
“Will you stay with me?” she asked, trying to sound casual, but there was a bit of anxiety in her tone as well. She was afraid he would leave her, and as he nodded, it warmed his heart to see her happy smile.   
Even before he had laid himself down, she already had her arm around his waist, and he fixed the blankets around them while she looked at him with a gentle smile.   
“I eh…” Belle wanted to say something, but seemed too shy to do so, and he curiously lifted an eyebrow. “I’m afraid I don’t really know your name…” she admitted sheepishly. “Something that starts with Rumple?”  
She looked so innocent and slightly afraid he would be insulted, and he could not help but smile because of it.   
“Rumplestiltskin,” he introduced himself more formally – rolling his r’s as he did so – and as he offered her his hand, she took it and shook it with a smile on her face.   
“Rumplestiltskin,” she repeated softly. “I’m Belle.”  
“Nice to meet you, Belle,” he said as he gently stroked her cheek, and she blushed and soon rested her head on his chest, which was her way of telling him she would not mind sleeping now.  
He tucked her in as well as he could and put his arm around her, even if he did not need to sleep himself. But her presence soothed him and calmed him, and just by thinking of her, he was able to forget the other horrors he had seen that day. Focusing on her gentle breathing eventually caused him to drift into a peaceful sleep as well.   
Somehow, when he was with Belle, he did not feel so utterly alone in this world.


	8. An Unlikely Ally

Before Rumplestiltskin left to go to Victor the following morning, he made sure there was some breakfast on the table for Belle, even though she was still sleeping.  
After setting the table, he went over to her bed and watched her as she slept, a small smile on his face. Children looked so peaceful when they were dreaming. It soothed his anxious soul.  
He knew that he had to leave and go to Victor’s office any moment now, but he could not find it in his heart to awaken the princess. Realizing that she had nothing to play with, he wondered how she had survived the past days without getting bored out of her mind.   
Baelfire had never had many toys while growing up, and neither had he, but he figured that all girls seemed to like dolls, and he summoned her one that had brown hair, just like her, and bright blue eyes as well. Leaving it in the bed, on the spot where he had slept, he left to face his master for another day of work.   
For one who had full control over him, Victor did not give him many orders. He did ask Rumplestiltskin all sorts of questions, all day long. Some seemed relevant to Gerhardt’s current state of being, like the questions about magical healing. Others seemed completely irrelevant to Rumplestiltskin, like questions about horrific spells he knew that would turn people inside out and other such horrifying things.   
In some moments, Victor would start reading or writing down research, and Rumplestiltskin would just stand by his side, watching him for what seemed like hours. By the end of the day, Victor realized that this perhaps wasn’t the most useful way to use someone as powerful as the Dark One.   
“Rumplestiltskin,” he thought out loud. “You are an expert in magic. I am an expert in science. Due to my heritage, I shall never be able to perform any magic. People in these lands simply do not have magic. But you… you could become a man of logic and science too – as well as one of magic. If you understood the things I’m dealing with, you would be able to brainstorm with me and add your own magical suggestions to any procedures we may execute in the future.”  
Rumplestiltskin saw the reason in that, but was still surprised when Victor said: “I shall provide you with books to study – so you too shall have the knowledge of a doctor. Are you a good student? Does having magic make studying easier for you?”  
Rumplestiltskin shrugged, not really knowing if he was a very good student at all. His magical abilities had come to him from one day to the other, and though he had learned many things in his lifespan, he had never considered himself a student of anything. He just remembered those things that he thought would come in handy.  
“I have been able to memorize plenty of things in my lifetime,” he admitted. “But I have never been a scholar or a student. But magic means I won’t get hungry or tired – so that should be a plus during studying.”  
“That will come in very handy indeed!” Victor said cheerfully.   
At times Rumplestiltskin wondered if the doctor realized that keeping a child in his dungeon – or cellar, as he preferred to call it – and enslaving the Dark One weren’t very noble things to do. He seemed stupidly optimistic at times.   
Before Rumplestiltskin was allowed to go back to Belle, he was given several textbooks about human anatomy, and Victor asked him to learn them by heart.   
Lucky for Rumplestiltskin, no deadline was given, and so he could spend some quality time with Belle.  
She was elated to see him when he whisked into their cell, holding the heavy textbooks in his arms, and she hugged him tightly, the doll still in her arms.   
“Thank you thank you thank you thank you!” she cried happily, closing her eyes as she tightly held onto his waist. “I love her so much already.”  
“I’m glad to hear it, princess!”  
Rumplestiltskin could not help but smile, the happiness of Belle the most important thing in the world to him. He noticed how she was still wearing her nightgown. Apparently she had not changed into her blue dress that day, and he hoped she hadn’t been too cold. It wasn’t warm in their cell at all. His gaze went to the dining table, and he saw that the breakfast was gone, as well as a some of the fruit.   
As she let go of him and looked up, she seemed even more cheerful than before. “What books are those?” she asked eagerly. “More stories like the one about the three goats?”  
“Afraid not,” he said as he whisked a shelf against the wall, and put the books on them. “These are scientific books about human anatomy and such.”  
Seeing her gaze, he realized she did not understand the word anatomy yet, and he explained: “Anatomy means everything to do with the human body. Information about our bones, our flesh, our intestines… I can imagine you’d find it rather dull.”  
She didn’t look interested, and he suddenly said: “I will ask doctor Frankenstein if he has any books that you might enjoy too.”  
That made her smile.   
“It’s alright,” she said softly. “I imagine that it won’t be long now before mama and papa come with their army. But I do like books…”   
She bit her lip as she thought about that, hugging her doll tightly in her arms, probably imagining it were her parents already. Once more Rumplestiltskin lacked the courage to tell her of their real predicament in this world.  
Their evening was uneventful, but relaxing and heartwarming to Rumplestiltskin none the less. Belle was the perfect companion to him. She was sweet and funny and kind and so glad that he was with her. He spoiled her rotten, giving not only her doll a few new dresses, but her as well – dresses that she would be able to put on without the aid of a handmaiden. A big wardrobe was summoned besides the bed and it was filled with dresses in any color Belle could desire.   
At least that way, Belle could spend her day playing with her doll or even playing dress-up herself.   
When she woke up the next day and noticed that Rumplestiltskin was gone again, she felt a little disappointed that she had missed him again, but he had left her a nice breakfast – omelet sandwiches and a bowl of fruit and yoghurt. She ate, then she crawled back in the bed, where she made a fortress of her blankets and pillows, and she played with her doll for an hour before she got dressed herself, then returned to the bed to play some more.   
The cellar was rather cold, but at least the blankets provided some warmth.  
While she played with her doll, Belle managed to forget the stress of being locked up for a few hours. She did realize that she was a prisoner, but she also realized she had it rather well - thanks to Rumplestiltskin. No other prisoner had such a comfortable bed, such nice food or any toys to play with. It was because of that that she was able to forget her misery for a few moments.  
When she heard a tap on the door, she froze, and in an instinct she hid behind one of the massive pillars in the cellar, holding her breath as she heard how the door opened and someone walked in. It was quiet for a few moments, as though whoever had entered was taking in all the colors that could be seen in the otherwise dull cellar.   
"Princess?"  
The voice did not belong to Rumplestiltskin. She knew it also did not belong to doctor Frankenstein, for his voice was much colder. It had to be the assistant's voice, and though she was a little afraid that he meant her ill, she carefully watched him from behind the pillar.   
As he spotted her, a relieved smile spread across his face.  
"There you are! I thought you had vanished!"  
Belle did not react. It was true that he did not sound angry, frustrated or mean, but she did not trust him for the simple reason that he worked alongside Victor Frankenstein.   
"I came to see if you were doing alright," he continued gently, and though Belle did not like him, she did think he had a warm and caring voice - at least while talking to her.   
As she remained completely still, he asked: "You are so quiet. Did Rumplestiltskin cut your tongue?"  
Insulted that he would even suggest such a nasty thing about Rumplestiltskin, she opened her mouth. "Of course not," she replied in a regal tone. "Rumplestiltskin is a perfect gentleman."  
Even if the Dark One did not look much like a gentleman, Belle believed this was the truth about her friend.   
"I see he has decorated this room with many beautiful things," Igor continued respectfully. "I have never seen so many colors in my life."  
Though she did not move any closer to him, she did not bother to hide away either. He did not seem to have come to hurt her, and it was rather intriguing that everything was colorless in this world.   
"Why are there no colors here?" she wondered in a quiet voice, but she wasn't able to hide her curiosity.   
Igor shrugged. "I'm not sure, princess... I have never seen any colors in my life."  
"So then... when you see grass, do you say it is green? And do you know that the sky is blue? And do you recognize these colors?"  
Igor shook his head. "It's all very strange, princess. I know that grass is green and the sky is blue and the sun is yellow, but I have never seen those colors in my life. To be honest, Victor and I thought we were colorblind - at least until we saw Rumplestiltskin for the very first time."  
Belle frowned. It was hard to imagine that.   
"So everyone thinks they are colorblind in this world?"  
Igor nodded. "Pretty much, yes. Hundreds of years ago, there was a horrible plague in this world. People got very sick and died. It is believed that that plague caused everyone who survived to go colorblind – and their children too."  
The princess was still frowning. The story didn't match up completely.   
"But you're not colorblind... There just... is no color in this world..."  
Belle moved around the pillar, leaning with her back against it in a casual way, and Igor smiled when he noticed it.   
"Well, yes... That was rather strange to us when we met Rumplestiltskin," he told her. "Imagine thinking you're colorblind, and then suddenly seeing someone in full color... And now, this entire room!" He pointed to the table. "That must be brown, right? Since it's made of wood."  
Belle nodded.   
"And those apples," he continued. "They must be red and green."  
"Actually..." Belle said as she slowly made her way to the table and picked up an apple. "This one is yellow. And that one is red. If you want to see the color green..." She ran towards the wardrobe and took out a green dress, turning around to show it to him.   
There was quite a distance between them, and Igor had his head leaning against the bars as he looked at everything she showed him.   
"What are those colors over there?" he wondered curiously, and Belle took out each of her dresses, telling him the names of each and every color she had in her wardrobe. Igor listened patiently and sometimes tried to guess the name of a color - and each time he was wrong it amused Belle.  
When she was finished showing him all the dresses, Igor said: "I can see that Rumplestiltskin takes very good care of you. I'm glad for it. I had actually brought you a gift, but perhaps you don't need it."  
Belle looked at the man, but she did not see a gift or box in his hands or in his pockets. When he put a hand behind his back and suddenly pulled a skipping rope from underneath his belt, Belle was not sure what he was offering her.  
"What's that?" she wondered, taking a few steps closer to the iron bars that separated them, and she was closer now than she had been before. She could see the cleft in his front teeth as he smiled, and she found it funny how the lamp that hung above him reflected on his bald head. It looked like he was glowing too.  
"A skipping rope," he explained as he offered it to her. "I had the morning off and went to my parents' house. We still had this one from when my sisters were younger. I thought the exercise would be good for you."  
"A skipping rope," Belle repeated slowly, looking at the rope with its two wooden handles, but not yet taking it. "I never had one of those."  
"Really?" Igor seemed surprised. "Children in the Enchanted Forest don't play with these?"  
Belle bit her lip. "I think they do," she said. "I mean... I've heard of skipping ropes... I've just… never seen one."  
"Like I had heard of all the colors - but had never seen them before," he compared their situations to one another.   
Belle smiled as she carefully approached him, and as he reached out his hand to offer her the gift, Belle was rather slow in taking it from him - as though any sudden movement would turn him mean. However, he too behaved like a gentleman, and even bowed once she held the gift.  
She kept one of the handles in each hand, then tried to throw the rope over her as she jumped, but she failed because she had never done it before. She had only heard about skipping ropes from stories, but she had never seen anyone do it.  
"It helps if you put your feet in front of the rope," Igor told her. "Then try to throw the rope over you and when it comes back to your feet, you jump over it."  
Belle tried a few times, trying to listen to Igor's advice, but it took her several minutes before she was able to get a successful jump through.  
"Brilliant!" Igor exclaimed. "You're a natural!"  
Perhaps that was an overstatement, but the princess appreciated it none the less. She blushed and quietly thanked him, and Igor said: "I must be off now. But keep on practicing with that. I'd very much like to see how much you've improved next time I come over."  
She nodded shyly, and Igor waved before he left, a warm smile on his face.  
Belle wasn't sure what to feel about him - after all: he had not released her from this prison, even though he could have. But at the same time, he had shown kindness and interest, and that was something that a lonely little girl like Belle could only treasure.


	9. The Ugly Truth

When Rumplestiltskin returned to the cellar that evening, he had hardly noticed Belle or she had her arms already thrown around him, hugging him tight. After a day of studying and discussing procedures with Victor Frankenstein, it was a welcome change.  
It was true that the Dark One had been worse off under former enslavers, but that did not mean that he was having such a great time now. He still had no true freedom, and thinking of spending the rest of his life in Frankenstein’s large mansion wasn’t exactly exhilarating. But he was grateful for Belle’s presence during his evenings and nights, and hugged her back without a second thought.   
“Rumplestiltskin!” She seemed to cherish his name on her lips, and continued excitedly: “Look what I’ve learned!”  
She ran to the kitchen table and picked up the skipping rope she had received, trying to demonstrate her new skill. She failed the first time though, but the second time, she made no less than two jumps in a row.   
Rumplestiltskin stared at her in confusion and slight horror. He looked at the colorless gift with a frown on his face. “Where did you get that?” he demanded to know.   
“Frankenstein’s assistant gave it to me,” she admitted in a quiet tone, seeing how he was upset by that.   
“Igor…” he muttered, an unpleasant scowl on his face, and he involuntarily started pacing in front of her.  
Her eyes followed him everywhere he stepped, and she gulped away her insecurities.   
“He… he was nice,” she said softly, but Rumplestiltskin was upset that anyone had come to his Belle while he had been away.   
“Was he nice enough to release you? Or to try and get you back to your parents?” he bit back, more frustrated with Igor than with Belle.   
Belle bit her lip, tears welling up in her eyes. It was true that she was still imprisoned, but she had tried to be happy with her gift – not bitter. She started to think that perhaps she should not have been so eager to accept Igor’s present.  
It took Rumplestiltskin a few moments to realize his Belle was almost crying, and he felt how his heart sank to his stomach. He had not meant to make her sad, but his anger had done just that, and he knelt down in front of her.   
“Belle,” he said softly, catching her gaze and looking at her in the gentlest way he knew how. “I’m sorry…”  
Those words only caused the tears to roll down her cheeks, and as she cried, she softly said: “You’re right. He did not release me. I’m sorry for talking to him and taking his gift.”   
He shook his head. “No, it’s alright, sweetheart.” He tried to wipe her tears away with his thumb, and he was relieved to see she did not back away from his scaly touch. “Just remember, that if he ever tries to hurt you, you only need to call out my name, understood? I will be by your side as soon as I can.”   
She nodded quickly, and Rumplestiltskin hoped that Victor would never enforce any rules upon him that would prevent him from doing that. Until now, Victor had given him the command to meet him every morning in his study – and he had spent his days there because Victor had expected it – but not because he had literally demanded it each and every day.  
“It is nice of him to bring you a gift,” he continued half-heartedly.   
As much as he hated to admit it, a skipping rope had been an excellent gift. Belle – like all children – needed physical exercise. She did not have a place to run around in, but a skipping rope would provide her with plenty of exercise – even in their small prison.  
Though it seemed that the worst of her crying was over, she still looked rather sad. As she looked at her with those bright blue eyes, he felt his knees grow weak. Even for such a small child, she was exceptionally beautiful and it was a strange thought that she could care for him – the Dark One – at all.  
“Rumple,” she continued miserably. “When will mama and papa be here? Shouldn’t they be here already now? I thought the army would be much quicker.”  
He opened his mouth to reply, but he was unable to produce a sound. How could he tell her the truth when hope was all she got?   
In his hesitation and silence, Belle picked up on the fact that he did not dare to reply, and she looked at him with a questioning gaze.   
“Why aren’t they here yet?” she asked him again, not taking her eyes off his as she straightened her back and raised herself to her full height, looking every bit like the regal princess she was raised as.  
His mind seemed frozen for a moment and he was unable to come up with an answer. Noticing this, the princess gulped and took a step forward, reaching out for his hand.   
“Do they know where we are?” she asked, her voice trembling as she asked him this question, and Rumplestiltskin had never imagined her to be this clever. Now he only felt worse because he had underestimated her. He should have given her more credit.   
Eventually – it seemed like an eternity passed to him – he shook his head, immediately seeing how her tears welled up once more.   
“I’m so sorry,” he said in a hoarse voice, feeling completely numb. “They asked me to find you – but I did not tell them where I was going. They probably don’t know you’re in this world.”  
Watching her cry, he realized she was still holding his hand, and he put her hands between his, warming them as he said: “I’m so sorry, Belle. If I had known what would have happened, I would have told them about this world. I did not think it would be necessary – I thought it would be easier to save you – and I would have never guessed that Frankenstein would not let you go.”   
As tears kept on streaming down her face, and she looked at him with a painful expression on her face, he moved even closer and hugged her tight, lifting her up as he did so, and he found that she grabbed a firm hold of him, supporting her own weight as she hung around his neck.   
He moved to sit on the bed, and held her close, listening to her as she sobbed on for what seemed like an hour. He stroked her hair and did not let go of her, comforting her as well as he could.   
“I want my mama,” were the first words she said, still crying, quickly followed by: “I want my papa… I want to go home!”   
“I know,” were the only words he could find to reply with. “And I know they won’t give up on you so easily. Perhaps they’ll find another way to us. Perhaps they’ll save us both.”  
Though he thought the chances were very slim that that would ever happen, those words did seem to calm her down – if only a little bit.   
He could only imagine how horrible this all had to be to the young princess, and was surprised when she suddenly said: “At least one good thing came of this…”   
As he looked at her with a confused gaze, she smiled sadly and said: “At least I met you – and now we’re friends.”  
He denied to himself that he was crying, even though tears stood in his eyes, and when she noticed that and hugged him because of it, he hugged her as tightly as he could, closing his eyes in an attempt to forget that he was the one that had put her in this misery. It was all his fault that she was now locked away in this godforsaken land, and no one would ever care to look for her here or release her from this nightmare.  
“I know that the future looks bleak,” he admitted in a slightly broken voice. “But I will do everything I can to make you happy, princess.”  
“I know,” she replied softly, holding onto him. “And I will do the same. We’re in this together.”  
It was a miracle to him how one as young as Belle always found the perfect words to say, but she found them anyway. She did brighten his days, and his tears slowly made way for a smile. Perhaps this wasn’t the worst thing that could have happened to him after all.


	10. The Fallen Soldier

As their second week in the Land without Color came to an end, Belle was starting to realize that this was what her life was going to be like. She’d wake up when Rumplestiltskin was already missing from her side, and she’d spend the rest of the day in solitude, eating alone, playing alone and sitting in bed alone. She thought of her parents more and more each day, and though she had tried not to cry while she was on her own, she no longer felt strong enough to resist that urge.   
She hugged her doll as tightly as she could as tears streamed down her face, and her quiet sadness turned into frustrated sobs of grief as she lay on the bed, her sobs and silent cries echoing through the hallways.   
Though she could have called for Rumplestiltskin, she did not. She knew that he could not have made her feel better, and she did not want to make him feel worse than he already did. He felt responsible either way, and if he learned of her tears, he’d be just as sad as her.   
“Mama… Papa…” she sobbed over and over again, sniffing as she cried her eyes out, staring at the canopy frame above her bed.  
When she heard an eerie howling sound – coming from within her very cell – her heart froze. Whatever animal had found its way in, it was just outside the iron bars, and as she slowly sat up and looked between the curtains of the bed, she saw that it was no animal, but a man.   
Belle’s eyes grew large as she noticed his unnatural posture and the scars on his face. He even had a screw in his head, she noticed, and for a moment she was glad that there were bars separating the two of them.   
He leaned with his entire body against the bars, making a sad crying noise, trying to catch Belle’s gaze as he held out his hand to her.   
The princess was too shocked to respond at first, and merely looked at him from behind the curtains, afraid to go towards him.   
“Hello…” she said softly – as careful as she possibly could.   
A soft grunt escaped the lips of the horrific man in front of her cell, and he still reached out his hand to her.   
Belle did not understand the longing she saw in his eyes. Why did he want to touch her? Why couldn’t he just talk? Did he even know what he was doing at all?   
“Who are you?” she asked, remaining in the bed, though she opened the curtains a tiny bit more so he could see her more easily.   
Another grunt escaped his mouth, a slightly longer one this time, and Belle wondered if he knew she could not understand that.   
“I’m Belle,” she said in response, and she thought she saw his lips curl up into a smile for a tiny moment, but he kept on reaching out for her and it was starting to frighten Belle a little.   
“I should get some sleep,” she lied, but only because she had no idea what else to say or do to this strange man. “Goodnight!”   
As she lay down on the bed, she closed her eyes and pretended to sleep, and when she opened one eye to peek at him, she saw he was still in the exact same spot as before, still looking at her, but no longer with his hand outstretched. He did not move his gaze off her, however, and Belle closed her eyes again, counting to a hundred before she opened them again, but he was still there, leaning against the bars and looking around the cell.   
She wondered if he was ever going to leave or not. She had noticed his strange skin – it wasn’t just gray, but she could see his veins in there – and he had so many scars, like someone had used him for sewing practice. It looked horrible and Belle was a little afraid of it all. Not to mention that the man didn’t look particularly intelligent.   
As she opened her eyes once more, she noticed that he wore a rather nice outfit though. It seemed like a white uniform of sorts, and she wondered if he had been in the army. Perhaps he had fought in a war and had suffered a great deal? She had heard stories of people who had fought in the Ogre Wars and had come home with horrible injuries. Perhaps that was what had happened to this man too – only not with Ogres, since she assumed those did not live in this world.   
But if he was a soldier, then he had to be loyal and kind too, she figured, and as she slowly sat up in the bed again, she saw how his gaze followed her once more, and he grunted softly as he held out his hand towards her.   
She slowly got out of the bed and walked closer, though she stayed out of his reach.   
“Can you… can you open this door?” she asked softly, pointing towards the iron barred door, which he looked at the moment she pointed it out. It seemed he had understood her, and as he made his way towards it, he started shaking the door, trying to open it by sheer force.   
Belle realized it wasn’t going to work, but the man only seemed more frustrated by his own failure, and noticing this, she quickly said: “It’s alright! We probably need a key for this. Victor Frankenstein has the key, I guess…”  
At the mention of that name, the monster’s eyes lit up, and Belle noticed it. Tilting her head to the side, she bit her lip and then asked him: “Do you know Victor Frankenstein?”  
“Vic… Tor…” he slowly repeated, nodding. “Vic… Tor…”  
She had not expected him to be able to talk, but it seemed that he was still able to.   
“And who are you?” she wondered, and she spoke extra slowly as she continued: “What is your name?”  
“Gerhardt,” he replied slowly, and as he pointed to Belle, she smiled at him.   
“Belle,” she said slowly – figuring that he had not properly heard or understood her the first time. She repeated her name again: “Belle.”  
“Bel-belle,” he acknowledged, and the young princess chuckled, finding it funny how he called her, and she figured it would be rude to correct him.   
As he once more reached out his hand to touch her, Belle gulped, slowly raising her hand and touching his fingertips with her own.   
“Bel-belle,” he said again, his voice a little softer than before, and as she looked into his eyes she did not spot any anger or frustration, only gentleness. He almost seemed content, and as he pulled back his hand, he looked at the iron barred gate that separated them, trying to open it once more – but to no avail.   
As though he had some realization, he suddenly turned around and left the room, heading back into the corridor, dragging his leg behind him as he seemed in a rush to go somewhere else.   
Belle bit her lip as she watched him leave and she could not help but wonder where the strange man had gone. She certainly had to tell Rumplestiltskin about it. It did not cross her mind that the Dark One already knew this monster and so she hoped her story would at least intrigue him when she’d tell him that evening.


	11. A New Deal

That afternoon, Rumplestiltskin sat by a desk in the library, studying anatomy – by doctor Frankenstein’s request. He was only vaguely aware of Victor’s frantic scribbling besides him as the doctor noted down theory after theory – all of them related to restoring life to its full glory, so as not to repeat the monstrosity that Gerhardt had become.   
When the door opened and Gerhardt walked in, both of them looked up, slightly surprised that he would barge in like that – he certainly had never done so before.   
Most of the times, the monster liked to stay away from his brother during the day – just in case he had another operation planned that required his presence on the operating table.   
“Key…” he demanded slowly, holding out his hand as he headed towards Victor. “Key…”  
Doctor Frankenstein frowned, intrigued by the demand. “Key?” he repeated in mild confusion. “Why would you need a key, Gerhardt?”  
Gerhardt looked at the table, but he could not explain and merely moaned for a moment before he repeated more urgently: “Key!”   
“Do you want to go outside?” Rumplestiltskin wondered, also curious about Gerhardt’s behavior. Though the Dark One hated what had happened to the young man, he had to admit that this monster was intriguing – to say the least.   
Gerhardt shook his head, and he started to moan in frustration, trying to find the words to explain why he needed help.   
“Bel-belle!” he suddenly remembered, looking up at Victor with something that almost resembled pride. “Bel-belle key!”  
Rumplestiltskin paled, slowly starting to realize what key Gerhardt meant, and his heart skipped a beat as he feared what had happened. Gerhardt had once killed his own father – if he had hurt his Belle, then…  
Without another thought, Rumplestiltskin whisked into the cellar, not thinking of Victor’s disapproval as he did so, and he immediately called out for his princess.   
“Belle! Where are you?”  
The princess climbed down from the bed, a curious look on her face. “I’m right here, Rumplestiltskin.”  
She looked at him with an innocent gaze, wondering why he looked so scared.  
He had his arms around her before she realized what was going on, dropping on his knees in front of her, and as she noticed him trembling in relief, she hugged him tight and pressed a little kiss to the side of his head.   
“Don’t be afraid,” she said softly. “I’m right here. What’s wrong?”  
He let go of her to look her in her eyes, and a relieved smile spread over his face. “I thought something was wrong.”  
She shook her head. “No, I’m fine. I had a visitor before. Gerhardt is his name.”  
He smiled again, glad that she had not been harmed in any way. “I know,” he admitted softly. “He came in and said your name, and I was scared something had happened to you.”   
He didn’t tell her that he had feared Gerhardt would have hurt her.   
“I think he wanted to help me get out,” Belle told him. “He shook the door – tried to open it – and reached out his hand to me.” Pausing for a moment, she continued: “What happened to him? How was he injured so badly? Did he go to war?”  
Rumplestiltskin was about to reply, when Victor ran into the cell, completely out of breath, and when he saw Belle was alright, he halted to catch his breath, a relieved sigh escaping his mouth.   
“What happened?” he asked, looking at Rumplestiltskin.   
“Gerhardt was here,” he replied – a small frown on his face. “Apparently he wanted to let Belle out of her cell, but had no means to do so.”  
Victor – still out of breath – nodded quickly. “That… that explains why he asked for the key,” he acknowledged.   
As Gerhardt entered the cell as well a few moments later, and saw Rumplestiltskin and Belle together in the cell, he headed towards the barred door again.   
“Key!” he cried out in his low, rumbling voice, turning to Victor. “Key!”  
Victor frowned, trying to avoid looking at Belle. He had not returned to this place since he had caught Rumplestiltskin and Belle in this cell, and watching the child he had imprisoned did nag at his conscience – especially when his brother even seemed to disapprove of locking her up.   
“She can’t leave,” he tried to explain. “She must stay here, where no one can see her.”  
In the moments that Victor had been in the room, the little princess had only tensed up. She was clinging onto Rumplestiltskin’s rope, hiding behind him once more, her gaze afraid as she looked at him. As the Dark One noticed this, he realized that he had to try and change this.   
“Please, Victor,” he begged – something he would not have done if Belle had not stolen his heart so completely. “She is just a child. All this isolation is not good for her. At least let her sit with us while we study.”  
“What if someone sees her,” Victor protested, but Rumplestiltskin was quick to reply.   
“Then they can see me too, you know. And Gerhardt. The three of us are both equally difficult to explain to people from your world. The curtains remain closed, and if you like I could even put a protective spell on your domain – which would alert us to anyone entering your property. Not to mention that I could remove someone’s memories – if they were to see us.” The more he spoke, the more he started to realize that he needed to try and get Belle out of that cell. Perhaps he would not be able to earn her freedom anytime soon, but no child deserved to be locked up in such a small space for a long period of time. He had to try and push Victor into letting her out every now and then.  
“I can’t focus if there is too much noise in the room,” Victor continued with a small frown on his face, but Rumplestiltskin wasn’t going to let such a weak argument win.   
“She is quiet and well-behaved. And the moment she misbehaves, you only need to tell me and I will bring her back to the cell. But please, let her prove to you how she should not be a concern to you. Let her join us in the library to study.”  
Belle’s eyes lit up and she raised her head to look at Rumplestiltskin, a hopeful gaze in her eyes. She would very much like to visit this library.  
Though doctor Frankenstein was reluctant, he eventually sighed and nodded. “Very well. We can try this today. If she behaves, then perhaps she can join us in the library more often.”   
As Victor beckoned them to follow him, Rumplestiltskin waved his hand to open the door to their cell, no key required when one used magic, and as it swung open, Belle grabbed a firm hold of her friend’s hand, a little scared to leave the one room she had gotten to know pretty well in these past days. But as she looked up at Rumplestiltskin and saw his eager smile, she could not help but return it.  
Things were going to be alright as long as she remained by his side, she knew that much.


	12. An Unforeseen Proposal

Belle’s behavior in the library was exemplary, and as Victor could not remark anything negative about her presence, she was allowed to join them more often. Gerhardt followed her around while she walked between the bookcases, and whenever she sat down in a chair by the fire, he would sit down in the chair next to her – looking either at her or at the fire while she read.  
She would have read aloud to him, but did not dare to do so while Victor was in the room. However, in those few moments that Victor left the room to go to the bathroom or to check on some materials in his lab – on the other side of his property – Belle would read aloud, and Gerhardt would listen with something that resembled a smile, glad to hear her voice.   
The monster would not be the only one listening – Rumplestiltskin would look up too and look at her as she slowly befriended Gerhardt. Perhaps it was not so surprising that she was so kind to Gerhardt – after all, she was also very friendly with the Dark One himself. She had a knack for dealing with monsters, though one could argue that she had not won over Victor Frankenstein yet.   
He tolerated her presence, but he never looked at her or spoke to her. Rumplestiltskin was usually first to wake in the mornings, and he’d always leave Belle in bed – for perhaps in dreams she would experience some true happiness, and it would never be worth waking her up from that. He’d wait until over half the morning had passed, so she would have gotten something to eat and would be dressed. Then he’d announce to Victor that he would get Belle, and he would simply nod or grunt or say a brief “Fine” before continuing his work.   
Victor wasn’t impatient about Rumplestiltskin’s return though, and so Rumplestiltskin often found himself brushing Belle’s hair or cleaning up after her and simply talking to her, for they never spoke in the presence of Victor.   
Igor also seemed pleased that Belle was no longer locked up full-time in the cell, and he brought her gifts from his parents’ house - old puzzles and toys no one played with anymore. Belle appreciated it – even if all the toys were colorless – and sometimes when she was making a puzzle in the library, Gerhardt would sit beside her and watch, or give her pieces of the puzzle that she then needed to put in the proper place. He was always excited when a piece he gave her brought her closer to completing the puzzle, and if he laughed or shrieked in excitement, Victor often berated him for it, leaving both Belle and Gerhardt disappointed.   
But some days, Belle was not allowed to leave the cell. Gerhardt ended up on the operating table about once a week. Sometimes the procedure was rather standard, other times it was more complex and Belle would already be asleep by the time Rumplestiltskin returned to the cell.  
It was those days that the Dark One felt worse – for forcing both Belle and Gerhardt to spend their day in a way they both hated. Neither one of them prospered from solitude. Not to mention that Belle didn’t like seeing new scars on Gerhardt’s skin one bit more than Gerhardt liked getting them.   
What was even worse, was that their prison cell was getting colder and colder as winter settled in over the land. The area around Victor’s property was constantly covered in snow and inside the cell it was hardly above freezing point.   
Though Rumple had whisked a magical stove inside the room, that would keep on burning while he was gone, it often still felt like Belle’s hands were made of ice whenever he returned in the evenings and she hugged him tight.   
Still, he assumed he had a lot to be grateful for. Unlike several Dark Ones that had lost control of the dagger before him, he was allowed some liberties still, and his captor actually valued his input here and there. He was allowed to take care of Belle, and not once had Victor asked him to hurt her, or threatened to do so. Though their cell wasn’t very spectacular, it was becoming a home to him, and he loved Belle’s presence around him. It was strange to imagine a time before he had known her. Sometimes he even was able to forget the pain of the life before - as though this was the way things had always been.   
One snowy evening, when darkness had already completely fallen outside, and everyone was gathered in the library, Victor slowly stood up from behind his desk and cleared his throat rather awkwardly.   
Igor stopped dusting for a moment, Belle and Gerhardt looked up from their puzzle and Rumplestiltskin gazed at Victor, hoping that whatever was to follow was a pleasant announcement – not something that would take away the bliss he had felt in the past weeks with Belle.   
“As some of you may know, tomorrow it will be Christmas eve and… I thought we could spend it all together.”  
An awkward silence hung in the room, and, surprisingly enough, Belle was the first to speak.   
“What’s Christmas?”  
As Victor stared at her in stunned silence, Igor spoke up: “You do not have Christmas in your land?”  
Belle shook her head, wondering why this seemed like such a big deal.   
“Well, should be logical,” Victor continued with a small frown on his face. “They probably never had a Jesus Christ on their world.”  
“Who’s Jesus Christ?” Belle wondered next, finding this topic very interesting. After all, it sounded like Christmas Eve was a celebration of some sort, and so she wanted to know what they would do the next evening.   
“He is the son of God,” Igor replied, folding his hands solemnly as he spoke of this.   
“Which God?” Belle continued, and Rumplestiltskin couldn’t help but smirk when he saw Igor and Victor’s baffled faces.   
“The one God!” Igor continued impatiently, finding it rather blasphemous that this child did not know a single thing about the religion of this world.   
Belle realized Igor was getting a bit upset, but still she continued: “What’s his name?”  
“Enough questions!” Victor snapped. “If you’re going to be this annoying, I might not let you sit with the adults tomorrow evening.”  
Belle sulked. Perhaps she would not mind as much to miss out on any festivities, but the idea that Rumplestiltskin would not join her in the evening was the worst.   
Gerhardt grunted softly, not liking to see his brother so upset, or to have anyone yell at Belle, and noticing his brother’s discomfort, Victor took a deep breath to steady himself.   
“Look,” he continued with renewed patience. “On Christmas we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ – our lord and savior. Many people in this world celebrate Christmas as a day of hope. Countries that are at war often lay down their weapons on Christmas Eve and Christmas day, people show their appreciation for each other, families sit together to share a splendid meal and some people exchange presents. We decorate the Christmas tree with candles, to shine a light during the darkest days of the year.”  
“Ah… So it is like midwinter now,” Rumplestiltskin remarked. “There are several cultures in our world where people celebrate midwinter as a time of hope and a time of new beginnings.”  
Victor bowed his head slightly. “I suppose we do have some things in common after all.”  
Rumplestiltskin bowed his head as well. “Please do tell us what is expected of us and we will try to accommodate you as well as we can.”  
He was being polite, but only because he saw it as a good thing that Belle would be allowed to celebrate something for a change. It would be good for her, and for that reason he kept his tongue in check.  
Victor continued to explain what was to happen. They would have the day off for not just one, but actually two days in a row. Apparently Victor and Igor liked to go to mass on these days and even science could be put aside for 48 hours. Spending time with family was more important.   
What Victor did not say, was that he would also be visiting his father’s grave. The man had died a year ago – at the hand of Gerhardt. It was only proper that he paid his condolences too on the anniversary of his death.   
But in the evening, Belle and Rumplestiltskin would be welcome for dinner in the living room. Belle had never been there, and so she was rather curious to see this room.  
When the next morning finally arrived, Belle was delighted to find that Rumplestiltskin was still by her side as she woke up. She had a tendency to sleep on her side or stomach, with one arm firmly around him, and she hugged him tight as she woke, humming to herself.   
“Good morning, my sweet princess,” he greeted her, stroking her hair in a soothing way.   
“Good morning, Rumplestiltskin,” she replied happily, looking up at him with such affection that Rumplestiltskin only wanted to scoop her up in his arms and hug her too. He refrained from doing so, however.   
“How about we have some breakfast together?” he suggested. “After that, I think it would be good if you would take a bath. We can find you a nice dress to wear for the Christmas Eve tonight, and I can do your hair, if you so please.”   
She nodded eagerly, finding the sound of that absolutely delightful.   
An hour later, she was sitting in the bath tub behind the folding screen, the warm water soothing her skin as she played with the bubbles on the surface of the water.   
“Rumplestiltskin?” she called out, and as she heard him say ‘yes?’, she continued: “Could you come and rinse my hair, please?”  
As he came to her aid, he was glad that he had put so many bubbles in the bath, he hardly saw more than her little head and her beautiful smile as she looked at him – and the bubbles she had put on her face.  
“Nice beard of foam, my princess,” he complimented her, and as she giggled he giggled as well.  
“I’m a dwarf,” she said proudly as he began to rinse off her hair with water he summoned straight into his hand.   
“That explains why you’re so small,” he played along. “I knew you could not be human.”  
The sound of her giggles was like music to his ears, and when he was done rinsing her hair off, he took a big towel and warmed it with magic before he offered it to her.   
“Best to get out now, princess, the towel won’t stay hot forever!”  
As she jumped up, he quickly averted his eyes and as she started drying herself off, he went back to the bed, where he relaxed a bit as he waited for her company. When she appeared, she was wearing her white nightgown again – and he noticed how it was wet in a few places where she had not dried herself properly, and her shoulders were wetter than anything from her heavy hair.   
“Come here,” he beckoned her. “Let me dry your hair with magic.”  
As she obeyed him and moved towards him, he took her hair between his hands, removing the thick drops of water as he muttered a simple spell to do so.   
Belle found the foreign words he spoke to be quite mesmerizing, and she relaxed as she sat by his side on the bed, waiting for him to finish. When he started brushing her hair, she closed her eyes and hummed.   
“I wish every day here could be like this,” she sighed happily. “I love spending time with you.”  
“And I with you, sweet princess,” he replied honestly. His fingers ran swiftly but gently through her hair as he braided it.  
“Sometimes I’m sad when I think of mama and papa,” she told him honestly, her thoughts never straying too far from the people she had always known and loved. “But at the same time, I’m happy because I at least have you here. If I was alone without you, I would truly feel horrible.”  
His heart broke a little as she admitted that, and as he finished her braid, he wrapped his arms around her from behind and hugged her, his embrace soft but certain, and he felt how she put her hand on his arm as he held her. He had never hugged her like that before, but could not resist. There was no other way he could have expressed his complete love for her in that moment.   
“Without you here, I would feel horrible too,” he whispered, his voice a little deeper than it usually was.   
“I love you, Rumple,” she whispered.  
“And I love you too, princess.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for keeping you all waiting for so long! As you may have seen, I have started uploading two new fics in the meanwhile. "Heart of the Ship" is by far the longest Rumbelle fic I've written so far, and I really really would want you all to check it out. Trust me, if you like this, you'll like that one as well.  
> The other fic I have begun to write and post is called "The Princess and the Knight" and it is a Sir Rumple/Princess Belle AU fic. Shouldn't have more than 10 chapters before it's finished, so it's just a short one compared to what I have in store for this tale.  
> Thank you all for your enthusiastic comments, they really do cheer me up whenever I'm feeling down.


	13. Celebrating Christmas

When evening finally came and they entered the living room, Belle fully looked like the princess she was. Her beautiful curly hair was loose for a change, and the red dress she wore was made of the finest silks. It was embroidered with golden roses and trimmed with other golden patterns and it matched what Rumplestiltskin was wearing.   
He still wore his black leather pants, but his vest was just as red, and the shirt he wore underneath was made of gold as well. Though he did not have elaborate patterns in his clothing, he looked royal too, if only because of the way he held his head high as he entered the room.  
For a moment he had considered putting on his most ghastly outfit, just to piss off Victor, but then he had considered Belle’s happiness, and she had been so excited about the party that he had not been able to let her down.   
As their hosts looked up and saw them enter, Gerhardt was the first to speak.   
“Bel-Belle!”  
He sounded positively excited as he limped towards her, holding out his hand for her to take, and she did so without fear. Though his grasp was firm, it did not hurt, and Gerhardt seemed very pleased with the company they would have that evening.   
“Ah, welcome!” Victor said, inspecting both Belle and Rumple’s clothing, and he complimented them: “I see you have dressed for the occasion. How wonderful! Please, do take a seat!”  
He motioned to the comfortable sofas in front of the fireplace, and Gerhardt followed Belle as she gently pulled her two friends towards the sofas, sitting in the middle of the biggest one, and waiting for Gerhardt and Rumple to join her by her side. As the men sat down as well, Igor came to offer all of them something to drink. For Gerhardt and Belle, there was orange juice. For Victor, Rumplestiltskin and himself, he had a strong bourbon.  
Gerhardt beheld the drink in the hand of his brother, then looked at his own and grunted, a frown on his face as he did not approve.   
“Best not to have any alcohol, Gerhardt. You have quite a bit of medication in your system. It would not be wise to mix it.”  
Gerhardt seemed frustrated though, and drank from his orange juice as Belle looked at her glass as well, her eyes wide as she looked at the colorless drink. As she smelled it, she figured that it was indeed orange juice, but she looked at Rumplestiltskin before she actually dared to drink it.   
It was like he could read her mind, and he hesitated as well. “Victor, do you think it would be wise to have Belle drink this?”  
As they all looked at the colorful girl with the gray drink in her hand, even Victor seemed to hesitate.   
“Perhaps you should try it first?” Victor proposed. “If for some reason, people from the Enchanted Forest can’t stomach the food from this world, then you’d surely notice?”  
Rumplestiltskin wasn’t very sure about that, but he took Belle’s glass none the less and drank from it. It tasted perfectly fine and he nodded to Belle as he offered her the glass again, and she carefully took a sip.   
“It tastes the same,” she said softly, though she still wasn’t sure if this was a very good idea, and she awkwardly waited for the adults to start conversing. She didn’t like to be the spotlight of attention like this.   
“I’ve also prepared quite the festive meal,” Igor said proudly. “I do hope you’ll both try it.”  
“Igor makes the most wonderful roast you can imagine,” Victor added. “Not to mention the creamiest mashed potatoes you’ve ever tasted.”  
“And there’s pudding for dessert, of course!” Igor finished, smiling at Belle, and she had to admit that that sounded very appetizing.   
Igor suddenly drank all of his orange juice in one go, a bit of juice on his chin as he let out a small burp, and Victor frowned in disapproval.  
Belle noticed and took a handkerchief out of Gerhardt’s pocket – where Igor put a new one each morning – and carefully wiped the juice from his chin, Gerhardt sitting perfectly still as she did so, and not minding at all when she put the handkerchief back.   
It never ceased to amaze Rumplestiltskin how much his little Belle was able to care for someone like Gerhardt. He certainly wouldn’t have expected it from a girl her age.   
“Belle,” Igor called out. “Would you like to help me decorate the Christmas tree?”  
As he pointed to a corner of the room, a bare pine tree stood in a large pot, and besides it were several boxes with Christmas decorations that were waiting to be used.   
Belle nodded, curious about this tradition, and soon she joined Igor as he let her help with decorating. Gerhardt was close as well, and Belle let him pick the items from the box that she had to put in the tree. There were wooden figurines that were adorable, but mostly there were bows and Christmas balls, which Gerhardt lifted with the utmost care as Igor kept on instructing him to be careful.   
Rumplestiltskin watched from a distance, with Victor staring into the fire as he drank more bourbon.  
“Gerhardt seems to be doing better,” Rumplestiltskin remarked softly, noticing how Gerhardt was focused on handing decorations to Belle. He wasn’t in pain or frustrated and seemed to be enjoying himself. It was a rare thing to see.   
Victor only cast a quick glance on his brother before he directed his gaze towards the fire again.   
“Still a long way to go,” he muttered. “Compared to how he used to be, he’s still doing horrible.”   
The Dark One noticed how reluctant Victor was to talk about this. It was clear that it bothered him a great deal.   
“But at least he seems reasonably happy,” he continued, hoping to change the doctor’s mind. “He hasn’t been happy in a long while.”  
“So what,” Victor snapped back. “He’s happy for three minutes now, after that he’s back to misery. He’ll never have a normal life unless we fix him.”  
Rumplestiltskin hesitated, but simply had to say it: “Are you sure that cutting him open every week is the best way to fix him though?”  
Victor’s eyes seemed to be shooting fire as he looked at Rumplestiltskin, and he clenched his jaw for a moment before he said: “I would welcome your alternatives if you’d think of any, but since you don’t, I want to advise you from refraining to criticize on our experiments.”   
“They’re not so much _ours_ as yours,” the Dark One replied bitterly, closing his mouth straight after and looking at his Belle again. Just the fact that she seemed to be having fun made this tolerable.  
A few minutes later, Igor announced that the Christmas tree was decorated completely then, and Belle and Gerhardt seemed proud of it, looking for the approval of Rumplestiltskin and Victor respectively. While Rumplestiltskin complimented Belle, Victor hardly looked up from the fire, his weak compliment only saddening the young monster.   
Igor noticed this, and tried to compliment Gerhardt instead, but Gerhardt had already completely understood that he was unable to bring his brother joy, and so he wallowed in misery too.   
“Say what,” Igor suddenly tried to change the mood. “I will go fetch our dinner. Perhaps you could sing some Christmas carols?” Figuring that Belle and Rumplestiltskin didn’t know any, he quickly added: “Or any songs at all, really!”  
At the mention of songs, Gerhardt moved to the other side of the room, his eyes cast on the large piano that stood in the corner.   
“Gerhardt used to be quite good on the piano forte,” Igor explained to Belle, who followed Gerhardt with her gaze. “I’ll be right back.”  
As Igor left the room, Belle headed over to the piano as well – curiously looking at it and trying to figure out how it worked precisely. She had never seen a piano in her life. Gerhardt walked around the large instrument a few times, before he sat down on the stool behind it, his fingers resting on the keys for a moment, gliding over them without actually pressing down on any of them.   
As Belle also put her little hand on one of the keys, she actually softly pressed down on a black one, surprised to hear a note resound from within the piano. Pressing down a few more notes – Gerhardt followed her lead and did the same.   
What Belle noticed though, was that his hands and fingers were spread out over several keys at the same time, and when he suddenly pressed two keys with one hand at the same time, she was curious as to what he was trying to do.   
Slowly, but surely, he played more notes, and Belle came to the realization that he was playing a song at the same time that Victor and Rumplestiltskin did. Victor paled visibly and got up from his chair, his hand trembling as he walked closer, watching how his brother played a song he had not heard in over a year.   
“That’s Vivaldi’s Winter,” he muttered – realizing that his brother was not playing it as fluently as he once had, but the right notes were still coming out, be it slower than in the past.  
Belle kept her fingers off the keys for now, mesmerized by the tune Gerhardt was playing for them.   
When Gerhardt suddenly stopped, he sat motionless, his gaze fixed on the piano in front of him.   
“That was beautiful,” Belle said, and Gerhardt jumped a little at the sound of her voice, looking around him in confusion.   
“Gerhardt!” Victor called out, a genuine smile on his face. “That was amazing! Please, do play some more for us!”  
But as the two brothers looked at one another, Gerhardt suddenly shook his head, and he headed to the sofa in front of the fire, sitting down a little further from Rumplestiltskin, frowning and looking confused.   
Rumplestiltskin had hardly been able to believe what he had heard. Gerhardt had not spoken a decent sentence in over a year, yet he had played over a minute of a song he had learned long ago.   
“I wonder if he actually remembers the notes – or if it’s just muscle memory,” Victor muttered, sitting down in his high chair by the fire, staring at Gerhardt as he contemplated about it. “He was always great behind the piano – very promising, though not overly ambitious about it. He loved music though.”  
As Belle sat down between Gerhardt and Rumplestiltskin again, she looked at the troubled soul besides her and said hopefully: “I really like music too…”  
Gerhardt looked at her, not frustrated anymore, but interested, and Victor seemed glad that Gerhardt’s foul mood was passing once more. “Wonderful. Perhaps Rumplestiltskin can entertain us with a song?”  
The Dark One raised an eyebrow as he turned to Victor.   
“Does my voice sound like it could carry a tune?” he asked sarcastically.  
“I’m quite certain the Dark One has plenty of talents,” Victor said with a grin. “Humor us.”   
Rumplestilstkin frowned, clearly not agreeing with this, but he wasn’t going to let Victor grab for his dagger in order to make him sing either. Sitting a little straighter, he tried to remember a song he had learned a long time ago – one he had always liked, and he began to sing: “ _Where will I wander and wonder – Nobody knows – But wherever I’m going, I’ll go – in search of a rose._ ”  
Belle smiled as she watched him sing, and as she recognized the song, she suddenly chimed in: “ _Whatever the will of the weather – whether it shines or snows – cause wherever I’m going I’ll go – in search of a rose_.”   
Rumplestiltskin had startled a little as he had heard Belle’s voice join his in song, and as he looked at her, he saw the delightful gaze in her eyes, realizing that she was really enjoying herself in that moment, and so he smiled genuinely at her as he continued along with her. She even put her hand on his leg as they continued singing, and he did not know why his heart was beginning to flutter and he felt like a schoolboy gazing upon his first little crush.   
“ _I don’t know where it’s found – I don’t mind – As long as the world spins around I’ll take my time._ ”  
Gerhardt seemed completely amazed by the two of them as they sang, not taking his eyes off them, his mouth slightly open as he listened.  
“ _I’ll savor the softness of summer – I’ll wrap up when winter blows – and wherever I’m going, I’ll go in search of a rose. Where will I wander and wonder – nobody knows –but wherever I'm going I'll go, in search of a rose…_ ”

As their song came to an end, Belle seemed to be beaming in pride and joy, and as she reached for his hand, he grabbed hers perhaps a little too tight – but she was not bothered by it, instead she smiled.   
For some reason he felt a need to tell her he loved her once more – but being in the presence of Victor and Gerhardt, he found he was unable to do so. His sweet little Belle – his little ray of light – she was his new purpose in life. To see her smile brought him joy he had not felt in years, and as he squeezed her hand, she realized it was to thank her.   
Igor served them some soup not much later, followed by his infamous roast.  
Even though the food was colorless, the flavors were still remarkably great, and both Rumplestiltskin and Belle ate with gusto. Especially Rumplestiltskin wasn’t used to being served upon like that, as he had hardly ever had anyone cook for him. Only Milah had ever cooked for him, and not very regularly at that. And they had never had the money to provide for such an amazing meal.   
To Belle, long dining sessions like this one weren’t new. She could notice Victor looking at her a few times, and she felt a little nervous because of it. She had no reason to be nervous though, for Victor eventually said: “She has excellent table manners for a girl her age.”  
“Well, she _is_ a princess, as you must remember,” Rumplestiltskin said dryly.  
A little annoyed by that remark, Victor continued: “I do, but it’s still pretty uncommon for children her age to eat so neatly.”  
Noticing how that topic did nothing to ease the tension between Rumplestiltskin and Victor, Igor decided to try and put that topic behind them. “Are you enjoying your pudding, miss Belle?”  
Belle smiled and nodded. “Yes, it’s great. I like the cookies you put inside the pudding. They’re so soft.”  
“Have you tried the chocolate sauce to go with it?” Igor suggested, offering her a tiny jug, no bigger than her hand, and she took it and smelled it, the dark scent of chocolate leaving her senses on edge.   
“Smells great,” she said, pouring some of the chocolate over her pudding, and as she heard Gerhardt whimper softly, she quickly turned to the side where he sat and did the same for him.  
He seemed very pleased by that, and clumsily stirred his spoon through his pudding, watching it darken as the chocolate mixed with it. He didn’t even seem interested in eating it for now.   
As Belle finished her pudding, she was rather pleased. It had been a nice day – the best one so far since she’d been locked up.  
Rumplestiltskin wasn’t sure how he felt about the evening. Under other circumstances, he might have been able to enjoy the meal and the company, but as it were, he was still a slave to doctor Frankenstein, and this was only temporary. Belle would not be released, and he’d be forced to help Victor with the experiments on his brother. He was even starting to doubt if he’d ever see the Enchanted Forest again and he feared watching Belle grow old in his presence, seeing her wither and die in this bleak world.   
It were dark thoughts for such a festive evening, but he was the Dark One after all, and he had his reasons for being such a pessimist.   
When Igor suddenly announced he had a gift for Belle, Rumplestiltskin frowned and watched as the man gave her a box. When she opened it, she revealed three small leather balls – meant for juggling – and as Igor eagerly told her such and he beheld the thankful look on Belle’s face, something snapped inside of him.  
“If you really want to give her a gift, why not start with her freedom?” Rumplestiltskin spat out, clearly annoyed.  
Igor seemed startled, Victor furious, and Gerhart stopped stirring his spoon in his bowl of pudding – most of the contents on the table now instead of in the bowl.   
Belle held her breath, her eyes wide and a little scared as she looked at Rumplestiltskin.   
“This is one of the most hypocrite displays I have ever witnessed in my life! Celebrating hope and warmth, yet keeping a child from her parents and forcing her to deal with monsters on a daily basis – and I’m not just referring to myself and Gerhardt!” He glared at Victor, whose gaze was just as dangerous as his.   
“I’d say this was a bad idea then,” Victor said between clenched teeth. “I thought this would remind you of how much worse you could have it under these circumstances. But I see you refuse to see that. Take Belle and go back to your cell. _Now_.”  
Unable to resist the command of his master, he did just that, his hand on Belle’s shoulders as he whisked them both back to the cold cellar, unable to look at her as he felt his rage still whirling inside of him.


	14. Spinning Away

Of course Belle was a little upset that the fun evening had ended now – and a part of her was angry with Rumplestiltskin for not keeping his mouth shut. But at the same time, as she saw her friend pace angrily through their cellar, she was beginning to realize that perhaps she was wrong for wanting to spend time with the others – with the people she sometimes forgot were her captors.

“I need to get you out of here,” Rumplestiltskin spoke through clenched teeth, pacing back and forth in frustration. “These should not be the memories you’re making. You should be with family. Not here.”

Belle gulped, knowing that he was right. She shouldn’t be here at all. But then again, she had no other option. This was now the life she had – and she didn’t want to spend it all crying and feeling horrible.

“There’s not really anything we can do against the way life is right now,” she said softly, once more sounding wiser than her age.

“I know,” he muttered angrily – though that anger was not directed at her. “I’m just trying to figure out how to get this all over with. How to win our freedom again. But I don’t see it happening unless Victor dies.”

The girl was quiet as she witnessed how Rumplestiltskin was thinking out loud. She wanted to offer advice, but she knew not what to say.

“I can’t get away from here as long as Victor has the dagger – and he always has it on him…” he muttered. “But you…” For the first time since they had whisked back from the Christmas dinner, did he look at Belle, and he knelt down in front of her and took her hands in his. “Belle, you are not bound by the dagger. You still have your own free will. If you see a chance to escape, take it.”

She gulped, uncertain she could.

“But where do I go?” Belle asked softly. “I don’t know my way in this world. When they brought me here, I was blindfolded…”

He grunted. He had hoped she had at least been able to see the path or general direction they had come from. She was still hours away from the Tree of Life, and he did not know how to direct her to it.

“I’ll look for a map,” he said in a determined tone. “I will get you an atlas of this world, and maps of this place. You can study them, learn the road by heart, so that when you have a chance to go, you can take it.”

The prospect of leaving him behind, frightened her, and her lip trembled.

“Promise me that you will try to escape, Belle,” he urged her, taking her by her shoulders. “As soon as you know the way, keep an eye out for an escape. Promise me.”

Scared as she was, she gulped away her fears as well as she could, and she quickly said: “I promise.”

Seeing his strict gaze, she repeated bravely: “I promise.”

“Good.”

He stood up again and continued his pacing, his mind still racing as he considered all his options. Little Belle did not like seeing him like that. It made her anxious as well.

“Would you like me to read you a story?” she suggested carefully, hoping it would get him to sit down, but he just raised an eyebrow as he looked at her.

“Why?” he asked, not understanding why she would suggest that at this time.

“Because you seem upset. I just want to help you calm down. What would you do at home?” she asked him carefully.

 _Home._  
The thought of the Dark Castle withering away in his absence was a tough one to bare. He had spent so long making that place what it had been before he left – and now, with him gone, the protection spells would cease to work eventually, and all his treasures would be stolen. Everything he had gathered in his life to reunite with Baelfire – it would all be gone. His reputation would be ruined if anyone found out how he had been enslaved by Victor. Perhaps word would spread about the dagger, and he would never again be safe.

Those thoughts left him a little out of breath, and Belle noticed.

“Rumple,” she called out his name again, trying to distract him from his train of thought. “What would you do at home if you felt like this?”

He only needed a few moments before he replied: “Spin…”

Belle tilted her head, not sure if she had heard correctly – or if she understood what that meant.

“I’d spin,” he repeated, the thought of his old spinning wheel already calming him down a little, and looking at the empty space besides her bed, he suddenly summoned a spinning wheel with a wave of his hand.

The small princess walked closer to it, inspecting the device.

“What is it?” she wondered curiously, and Rumplestiltskin chuckled. The girl had no idea what she was looking at, and it amused him.

“It’s a spinning wheel, princess,” he said warmly, walking towards it and taking a seat on the small stool before he started his spinning – a basket of straw besides his stool – and his nimble fingers worked with an incredible speed as he spun the straw into gold.

“I have never heard of anyone spinning straw into gold!” she said full of respect, watching his every move with great interest.

He smiled gently, her interest and warmth winning over that tiny bit of his heart that had tried to remain angry.

“I learned… a long time ago…” he admitted softly. “By accident, actually… I always liked spinning… Long ago, I spun wool. But one night, as I could not sleep, I was spinning wool, and I wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing, really… But suddenly, I saw a glint of gold before my eyes – and as I looked down, I noticed that a single straw had gotten mixed in with the wool, and as I had spun it, it had become golden thread instead… Needless to say, I stopped spinning wool from that day forward. Only spun straw since then.”

Belle smiled, glad that he had told her that tale of his past.

“You must be really rich then, if you can spin straw into gold!”

He chuckled. “I lived in a large castle – the Dark Castle! I bought beautiful paintings and a lot of magical items – and a magnificent library – you’d like it there!”

She giggled. “I would love to see your library – and the paintings – and the castle! I live in a castle too! Was your castle just as big?”

Rumplestiltskin was amused by her questions, but did not stop his spinning as they talked. “Well… I think mine is a little bigger. But not much… And I live there alone, while you have so many people living in your castle, so many servants and staff…”

“Must be lonely,” was the first thing she said to that, and he was a little surprised that she would remark on that. It wasn’t a lie.

“Quite,” he admitted – something he would have never done if she had not been such an innocent child.

“Then, if we manage to make our way back home, you should come and live with me,” she offered hopefully. “We have plenty of beautiful rooms where you could live. And I would visit your room every day!”

He chuckled once more, amused by the young girl’s innocent ideas.

“I’m afraid I’m not the kind of man to live in such a crowded castle as yours, Belle… But… If we make it out… I will come and visit you. Whenever you like. All you need to do, is call my name three times, and I will be there with you.”

Belle grinned eagerly, quite liking the idea. In her hope, she was forgetting what they had discussed earlier – if only for a moment. For now she did not think of the hopelessness of their situation – of the unlikeliness that they would ever be free again – for thinking of freedom was far more alluring than accepting the truth – for both of them, in a way.

As Belle changed into her nightgown, Rumplestiltskin continued his spinning. As she went into bed – tired by the day’s events – she looked at him while he spun, actually waiting for him to join her, as he always did.

Though he was preoccupied by his own spinning, he did look at her eventually, seeing her tired eyes as they rested on his figure.

“Are you alright?” he asked gently, stopping his spinning for a moment.

“Won’t you come to bed with me?” she asked sweetly, her eyes almost falling closed, and he could not refuse her.

He sat down by her side, and she put her hand on his leg as she rested her face against it, and as he gently stroked her hair, she already fell asleep.

“Sleep well, my sweet princess,” he said full of affection, a gentle smile on his own face.

His spinning wheel had the power to make him forget, but this princess, she had the power to give him hope and to fill his heart with love. He hoped time would not change that.


End file.
